Awaiting Winter
by one-eight-seven
Summary: It's pretty much a story about a girl named Scottie who gets turned into a werewolf. Her father notices her strange attitude & thinks she is becoming a discipline problem & sends her to live with her mom in, you guessed it, FORKS! PLEASE R&R!
1. The Transfer

Alrighty...First and foremost, if you've read the book(s), you'll know in an instant which characters are not mine (and thus, Meyers'). And those you don't recognize, must therefore be mine (at least, that's the most logical excuse, no?). Don't copy my work or storyline. I guarantee you, if I wrote it, it wasn't to have it copied by a pathetic low-life that steals works of literature (aka, plagarist). And also, if I wrote it, I most likely spent hours before falling asleep thinking really hard about it. So...don't spoil it for me, kay? Oh, and characters such as Bella, Jacob, Charlie, Bella's mom (gah, can't remember her name), & the other wolves will not make an appearance. Why? Because Jacob and the pack were a poor excuse for werewolves (personal opinion), I didn't like Charlie & the mom, and Bella was just plain pathetic. Yeah...Anyway, do me a favor and review. I'd really appreciate it...

**Awaiting Winter**

_Chapter One--The Transfer_

Forks.

Forks.

_Forks._

Just the name made the town sound small. I repeated the name in my head again. _Forks._

Ridiculous.

My father was sending me to live with my mother in this stupid ant of a town. He said he was "sick of all the secrecy" because it prevented us from "bonding" or "becoming a close family." Right. A family of two. How impressive. So, basically, he was sick of me. My sarcasm, my sneaking out, my secrets, and thus, ME in general.

That morning, he just exploded. He said that he'd been thinking about everything, and that he just couldn't handle it anymore.

"I just don't understand you anymore, Scottie. I mean, you used to be-"

"Perfect?" I snapped. "Hardly."

"Watch it, missy..." He warned. "Or you'll be in deeper than you already are."

_Oh, no. I'm doomed._ I thought. He began babbling on and on about all the incidents in which I had displeased him. It was nothing new to me; I'd heard it all before. But one thing seemed to smack me in the face.

"So...you're going to live with Vivian."

"WHAT?!" I jumped to my feet, knocking the stool out from under me.

"I warned you-"

"How-WHY?"

"Why? _WHY?_ How can you ask WHY?" He began babbling again, but my heart was pounding in my ears. I didn't really like my mother. She was...a little too lively for my liking. And annoying...she was never even at home, most of the time. She worked in an office outside of Forks from around eight in the morning untill about two the next morning. She had plenty of money, but wasn't crazy about spending it. She lived in a decent house about 30 minutes from town. I don't know what it was about her, but I just couldn't stand her. I leaned of the kitchen table, trying to comprehend everything.

_This is bad..._ I thought. _He just doesn't understand... It's only to protect him..._

It such a complex explination, and not one I cared to even attempt to explain...

"But, I'm already a quarter through the school year!" I tried to get him to change his mind.

"And I've already purchased your plane ticket." He placed a ticket from Colorado to Washington in front of me. "Get packing."

Packing my things was difficult. I kept choking everytime I thought about the situation. My anger grew and grew, until I thought it would flush through my body like a hurricane and tear all of my bones apart. My body temperature rose to an inhuman level. I forced myself to sit on my bed and calm down.

_This is not safe...Just...Just think of this as an opportunity, not a punishment..._

My temper faded as I took in deep breaths and released them. I took a final look around my room, and grabbed my bags.

I _could try and explain this to him...But then he'd send me to a mental ward rather than to Vivian... Why must __**I**__ bear this burden? Why couldn't I just stay normal...human..._

I made my way downstairs and loaded my things into my father's truck. He drove me to the airport, with neither of us speaking. Just before I boarded, I turned to him.

"There's so much I wish I could explain to you right now... But I can't. Maybe one day you'll understand... that I was only trying to protect you. Bye, I love you." Before he could interrogate the meaning behind my final words, I ran to the boarding dock, handed the woman my ticket, and boarded without a last glance back.

When my plane landed, Vivian had been there to pick me up. We drove all the way to Forks in her shiny blue Thunderbird. For the entire ride, she talked...and talked...and talked...

And talked.

Never did she cease to talk.

_Annoying human..._ Was all I could think.

We finally arrive in Forks after what seemed like days. She pulled up next to a glossy black Mustang convertible as she continued her pointless chatter. Finally she said something of importance.

"Well, tomorrow is Wednesday, which means you have school. And considering there's only an hour left in school today, yo can spend the rest of the day unpacking and moving into your new room. There are two rooms upstairs, one is larger and even has it's own bathroom. That one is yours. The other one is my home office. Hmm... OH. We'll can go to the grocery store and pick up somethigns you'll eat, if you want. Speaking of which, the kitchen is the first room you'll come to when you go in, and the laundry room is through the door on the other end of the kitchen. To get to the stairs, you go through the living room, and they're at the end of the hall, after you pass the bathroom. My room is on the other side of the living room, in case you ever need me. There's furniture on the back porch if you just feel like sitting around. I went ahead and plugged up a computer, a television, and a stereo in your room. Uh... I think I'm forgetting something..."

_As if you haven't already said EVERYTHING to be said... You've said more than a talk show host could say in a year..._ I thought she'd literally talked my ears off.

"OH. Here." She handed me a keyring with 4 keys on it. "One is to the front door, one to the deadbolt on the front door, one for the back, and one for your car."

"What?"

"That is your car." She pointed to the Mustang.

"It is? But-"

"I thing every teen should get a car for their 16th birthday...even though I'm about a year behind. It's kinda hard sending someone a car in the mail, if you know what I mean. So happy late 16th, and early 17th, by a few weeks."

"How did you know my birthday was coming up?" I was shocked.

"Hello? You're my child, too! So, you do have a liscence, right?"  
"Yes..."

"Good. Well, I have to go to the office for a while. I'll be back around nine or ten tonight."

I grabbed my bags and headed to the house. Vivian waved and pulled out of the drive way.


	2. The First Day

Okay, in order to understand this part of the story (and there rest there after), you must forget all you know about Meyers' version of the werewolves. I'm switching things around a bit... uhmmm, maybe a LOT. So yeah... Keep your mind open to changes. Oh, and one more thing: If you don't review, I won't know if this is all crap, or if it sounds good. So, your input keeps the story unfolding.

_Chapter Two-- The First Day_

It didn't take me long to get unpacked, and once I finished, I plopped down on the clean white bed. I held my hands up, examining my light grey nails. The were grey naturally-not from polish-but at the same time, they were kind of pretty. No one could tell it wasn't polish, unless, they got right up to them. I didn't have a disease, or sickness... but a curse. I was not human, though I had been. I could not remember what it was like to have a normal body temperature, or average senses.

I stood up and walked across the soft, dark green carpet towards my dresser, where my mirror was. I looked into the abnormally bright green eyes of the creature staring back at me. She was kind of short, just below five feet, and slim, yet not stick thin. She appeared slightly stocky, like she might be athletic. Her once golden blonde hair had turned black on a fateful night. The waves were now straight and glossy. The cut was kind of complex- the part was to the side, and it was a little longer than shoulder length, with layers all over. Her bangs made a diagonal sweep across her forehead. Overall, it had a slightly butch, yet feminine look. The creature opened her mouth, exposing straight, white teeth, and slightly longer canines. She tapped one with a slightly pointed grey fingernail, then closed her mouth.

_I AM this creature..._I thought.

Unfortunately, it was true. I was no where near human, and all because of what I considered a freak accident. I just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. About 4 months earlier, I had been human... then...

I had snuck out that night. Why, I couldn't quite remember; probably just for the heck of it. I had taken a walk down the road, and before I knew it, I was about two and a half miles from my house. I had decided to turn around and go back when something collided with me, knocking me to the ground with extreme force. For a moment, I couldn't understand what was going on. I couldn't breathe, and I had a terrible headache. I looked up at a pair of shoes coming towards me. Before I had time to act, I was jerked up and off my feet, then slammed into a tree. Whomever my attacker was grabbed a handful of my hair, jerked my head to the side and pressed their lips to my neck, then I fell to the ground, once again. I finally was able to breathe again, and I looked up at some guy who was fighting with a slightly shorter guy. The taller one eventually had an upper hand. He grabbed the other one by his arm and slung him into the woods with inhuman power. He turned back to me and grabbed my shoulder, snickering. I can remember thinking, _This is NOT natural. Please, please let me be dreaming...Please make this all go away..._ And what he said next frightened me:

"I'm afraid you're NOT dreaming." He laughed, but was tackled once more by the same figure. The two of them battled furiously, both growling like animals. My shoulder was bruising even as I sat there, trying to muster up the courage to run away. But something in my gut told me if I ran, I'd be doomed, because surely if the one...creature...could easily toss the other one about 20 feet to the woods, then he could easily overpower me. But was the other one protecting me? I wasn't sure.

I had finally conjured up the energy to get to my feet. My attacker turned to me (a mistake), and the other ran at him, tackling him to the ground. They rolled around on the ground, growling and fighting. At times they moved so fast, I couldn't see them. Then, my attacker threw the other creature off of him, and jumped to his feet. Before I knew it, he was standing next to me, clutching my arm tightly. I thought he might crush my bones before the circulation stopped. Then... things began to fall into place...

The one that had possibly been protecting me stood up rather slowly.

"Why must you mutts be so difficult? What is the point in depriving us a meal? Do you want us to starve, and have to kill more?"

"Leave her, leech!" My protector growled and crouched in a threatening position.

The attacker pulled me closer, leaning his chin on my head. His skin was cold and hard. "Oh... I'm hurt." He laughed. "Well, I'll make you a proposition...Since I have the upper hand, here."

"I'm not in the mood for your_ propositions_."

"That's a little too bad, then, isn't it?"

The protector growled and took a step forward.

"No, no, doggy..." He shook a finger at him. "One little move is all it takes, and then she's gone."

"You-"

"Shhh...now, for that proposition... We have a few choices to make, don't we? See, you could hand her over to me... and I'll satisfy my thirst. She'll be gone, and we'll both walk away. If that doesn't appeal to you, then I could turn her, and she'll live a life of damnation. Lastly, _you_ could turn her, she'll live a life of minor damnation, and I'll leave, thus saving my hunger for tomorrow. The choice is yours, dog-boy. And if you try anything funny, I'll snatch her, and I'll make _my_ choice... which is, of course, feeding on her."

Through this entire conversation, I remember trying to wake from the nightmare, but to no avail. I finally figured I was doomed no matter what, because it certainly was NOT a dream. The "dog-boy" looked at me for the first time, his eyes guilty. He seemed to be trying to apologize silently.

"Time's wasting..." The attacker chimed.

The other one began advancing towards us. I knew his choice. I told myself that everything was going to be okay, and that this was the best choice out of all three.

"Give her to me..."

The attacker laughed. "I'll leave when the signs confirming transformation appear." He shoved me to my protector. I collided with him, yet he didn't budge. He put one arm around my shoulders, holding me against his chest. His skin, unlike the other evil wretchs', was warm and soft, yet firm. It made me feel sleepy.

"I'd rather her face _this _fate than have anything to do with you and your kind." He spat.

He laughed. "Whatever. Get it over with, then! I have other places to be than hang around a mutt."

My protector kneeled, pulling me down to my knees. He looked me in the eye and took at deep breath. "This is the least hurtful decision...Please forgive me..." He whispered.

I remember shaking violently with fright, not knowing... not understanding... I finally nodded my head to signal my understanding.

"I'll stay with you... I haven't the time to explain now..."

I nodded my head again.

"Cut the chit-chat, dog-boy."

My protector growled at him. He looked at me again, and took my hand. "I'm sorry..."

I closed my eyes, hoping for the last time that it was all just a simple nightmare as he bit into my wrist. The last thing I remember was feeling my entire body go cold. It was the most horrible thing I had ever experienced. The icy feeling spread through my entire body, then I passed out. When I awoke, it was still night, and he was sitting next to me, and the other guy was gone. My protector told me that I hadn't been out long as I sat up, noticing the change in my physical appearance. I realized that my senses had been increased. He explained to me that I was almost killed by a vampire, and that he had to turn me into one of his kind: a werewolf.

For the next few months, I had been sneaking out of the house to meet him so that he could train me. He explained that I had to be careful, and that I couldn't tell or even hint to anyone what happened that night. I had to be careful about letting anyone get near me, because I had a very high body temperature. I couldn't show my teeth explicitly, because it would expose my canine teeth. I had gained inhuman abilities, and I had to be very discreet when using them. He explained to be that if I got extremely angered, I could get out of control. And most importantly, I should only transform when provoked by a vampire and the coast was clear. After a few months, I stopped going out to see him... But it was a little too late. My told my father that I had just dyed my hair (to explain the color change) and I'd simply taken an interest in painting my nails (to explain the sudden grey color). He knew I'd been sneaking out, and thought thta I was becoming a disipline problem...

And that leads us up to now, with me in my mother's care in Forks, Washington. I looked around my new room, sighed, and plopped down on the bed once more. I kept thinking about that night, until I fell asleep. That night, I had nightmares that would make Steven King cry for his mommy.

The next morning, Vivian shook me from my slumber.

"Scottie, hun, get up. You have school today. You have to be there early to get your schedule."

I rolled over and looked at her with a tinge of disgust. "_What?_" I hissed.

"Wednesday. New school. Early. Councelor. Get schedule."

I stared at her.

"Tardy is not an exception!" She pulled the covers off and poked me in the ribs. I jerked out of reflex.

"Okay okay! FINE! Just don't poke me. It makes my stomach hurt." The truth was, I didn't want her to note my body temperature. That could be disasterous. I slid out of bed and stretched, releasing a long, drawn-out yawn. Vivian left the room, then poked her head back inside.

"You must have been really tired. I came home around 10:30 and you were sound asleep, stretched out across your bed. Speaking of which, I was wondering how that bed slept. It's new, and I was worried it would be uncomfortable. Oh, there's pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice downstairs. It's important that you get a good breakfast. You don't need to start off sleepy on your first day here; it'll be hard for you to catch up. Unfortunately, I won't be able to fix you breakfast every morning. In fact, I'm actually quite late. I have to get going. Bye, hun." She left my room.

I stood there, waiting until I heard her drive off. Then I walked over to my dresser and grabbed my CD case. I pressed the open button on the 5-disc changer stereo, and slid my Comeback Kid: Wake the Dead CD in. I pressed play and turned it up just loud enough to hear it through the whole house. I scratched my head and walked over to my closet. I grabbed a pair of faded blue jeans, a low-cut black shirt, and my black Converses from the shoe rack on the bottom. I shut the closet door and walked to my bathroom, on the other side of my room. I took a quick shower, got dressed, then went downstairs. After examining the food, I scraped it all in the trashcan with disinterest. I never was a fan for breakfast. I went back upstairs and brushed my teeth,then grabbed my black messenger-style book bag. The only thing in it was a few folders stocked with paper and a variety of pens and pencils. I slung it over my shoulder and grabbed the set of keys off my dresser. I ejected the CD, turned off the stereo, and grabbed my CD case just before leaving my room. I locked the front door behind me, and pressed the button on the key to unlock the glossy Mustang. I stopped, staring at it for a minute, and smiled. I tossed my bag into the passenger seat and slid into the black leather seat. I inserted the key and turned it, allowing the engine to roar to life. I examined the tinted windows, the leather seats, the high-tech stereo, and its overall cleaness. I put the same CD into the stereo and sighed, then pulled out of the driveway.

Vivian had left a sheet of paper with explicit directions to the high school. Did she think I was stupid? Obviously so. I pulled into the only parking spot I could find, which was next to a brand new Volvo. I grabbed my bag and stepped out, locking the door. I stared at the monster in the reflection of the tinted windows with disgust. Would I get the same reaction from these people as from my other school? Most likely. Although I hoped not, it was inevitable. I turned, taking a look at the school as a cold wind whipped around me.

_At least the weather is nice...I bet it snows soon..._ I thought. Indeed, it was cold. I (unlike many others) preferred the cold weather to the blistering heat and humidity of summer. The heat made me feel weak and sleepy; it only added to my high body temperature, which wasn't safe. I must've been the only one in the entire school that wasn't wearing long sleeves or a jacket. Would that appear suspicious?  
_Surely not to these humans. I don't think they could possibly suspect anything...inhuman..._ I turned towards the Volvo and caught the scent of something slightly familiar. It wasn't the scent of someone I knew, but of someTHING I knew... My heart began to race as the realization sank in.

There were vampires...in the school. And I'd managed to park right next to them.


	3. Confrontation

Ohhh, goodness... So things start to get messy, eh? Yeeeaaah... So here we go. Edward makes his first appearance (along with Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper). Esme and Carlisle come into it later. And Bella--NEVER!! D Muhaha!!

_Chapter Three--Confrontation_

I walked into the councelors' office cautiously, looking around for the source of the vampire scent. I must have appeared paranoid, because the councelor gave me a confused look when I walked in.

"Uh, can I help you?"

"Yeeaaah... I just transferred here from Denver."

"Oh yes. Um, Ivans?"

"Evans." I corrected.

"Evans...Evans..." She searched for my file on the computer. "Ah. Here it is. Scottie S. Evans."

"That's me..." I said absent-mindedly.

"Here you go." She handed me a sheet of paper with my schedule.

"Thanks..." I took it and left. On my way out, I noticed that it was snowing. I smiled and shook my head. As I started down the hallway, I took note of my schedule. I figured if I didn't LOOK the part of a new kid, then the rest of the student body may not pay attention to me. Of course, that was wishful thinking.

When I was transformed, my physical appearance changed further than just my hair, eyes, and nails. My body muscle became stronger, and I became more physically attractive (not over-night, however). It took a few weeks, but my father hadn't seemed to suspect anything abnormal; he told me I was growing into more of a lady everyday (if only he knew). To a human, I was gorgeous... flawless... And vampires appeared the same way. Both races were graceful, beautiful, stealthy, powerful, and highly intelligent. No other creature could match us. We were (as some would say) _perfect._

The tardy bell sounded through the halls as I stuffed my schedule into my back pocket.

_I'll tell the teacher I was with the councelor._ I concluded. It wasn't a lie. I opened the door to my first period class: Trigonometry.

Overall, the day had been by far the most boring day of my life. The teachers droned and lectured, the students talked, guys gawked, girls attempted polite conversation, snobs sneered. The usual, I guess you could say. It was nothing new to me... Until after my third period class... That's when things began to get interesting...

I entered the cafeteria with a horrible feeling in my gut. My instincts were telling me to walk in the opposite direction, but my ego said "Don't you dare." Once I entered through the doors, I knew why instincts were telling me to avoid (not run away from) the lunchroom. There, all the way on the other side of the room, sat - not one - but five vampires.

_Five..._

_Five..._

_FIVE!! Why FIVE?!_

To make things worse, the split second I entered, they all turned and looked at me. There were two girls and three guys. One of the guys appeared to be more of a loner, but they were all somewhat similar.

"I see you've spotted the Cullens." A girl tapped me on the shoulder, causing me to jump and turn my attention away from them.

"I-uh-what?"

The dirty blonde girl smiled. "The _Cullens_. You were staring at them. It's okay. Everyone does...Especially the girls." She laughed lightly. I remembered her from my first three classes. Her name was Jess, and she seemed like a very funny and genuinely polite girl. She (unlike most of the rest of the student body) peeked my interest.

"I...uhm...Yeah - I mean no. I wasn't staring. I...They were staring at me first." I sounded like a paranoid idiot.

Jess laughed. "It's okay! I'll admit, I've definitely done MY fair share of staring...Especially at Edward Cullen." She winked.

"Uh," I casted my attention back towards them. "I don't know who that is..." I tried to sound polite, but I was getting nervous. It was true - I DID fear them (very much so), and with good reason. There were five of them, one of me, and we were sworn enemies. I was in danger, and I knew it... But I had no escape.

"Edward is the one sort of off by himself. He's sitting next to Alice, who is next to Jasper. Emmett is next to Jasper, and Rosalie is the one next to Emmett. Edward, Emmett, and Alice are Dr.Carlisle and Esme Cullens' adopted kids. The other two, Rosalie and Jasper Hale, they also live with the Cullens. Rosalie and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper are an item, if you know what I mean. But they all live together. Must be a trusting family, you know? And Edward, he doesn't date. No girl here appeals to him... Sad thing. Tsk, tsk. He's a junior, and so is Alice. The other three are seniors. They are all incredibly smart...It's like they've been studying the material for years and years! They have perfect 4.0's...it's amazing..."

I wished she would stop talking. I knew they could hear us, but she would never guess that, considering they were on the other end of the cafeteria. I watched as they all kept their eyes on me while slightly turning their heads and speaking to each other. I knew what was coming. I thought maybe - just maybe - if I left the cafeteria, they'd know I wasn't there to fight or cause any trouble, and they'd leave me be. I kept my eyes on them as I said to Jess, "Uh, yeah, that's interesting. Thanks for the info, but I have to go." Just as I started to turn and leave the lunchroom, I noticed them all stand up and dump their strays, continuing to look at me. As I walked back towards the door, I turned my hearing to them, focussing on their voices while tuning the others' out.

"...can't go all at once. It would look too suspicious."

"Alice is right. We can't draw attention to the situation."

"Who's going? If votes count, I say Edward. He's always by himself anyway."

"It's the best choice. Edward, be careful...Don't let her know you're following."

My heart was pounding, and hearing their conversation only made things harder. But now I had a bit of an upperhand; I knew who to avoid. I knew my enemies. Yet, I had nowhere to run. Or...Did I?

_Girls's bathroom._ I thought_. If I could just make it there, I'll be safe. Surely he wouldn't come in there... what would THAT look like? It'd be too suspicious on his part... I'll be safe there...But...Where is it?_

I heard the squeaky lunchroom door open, then shut behind me. My heart jumped into my throat and I thought I might choke.

_He won't do anything, and he doesn't want me to know he's following me. So if I pretend not to notice, that helps...and he doesn't want to look like he's following me... There are cameras everywhere. I'm safe. I'm safe. I'm safe..._

I hadn't been properly taught how to protect myself against a vampire. And the first encounter I had with one was all I needed to know I should be afraid. I hadn't been a werewolf long enough for my instincts to change to that of a wolf's. So, I was scared. Only to a small point did my instincts tell me to stand my ground. And let's face it - there wasn't enough to make me stand there.

I turned the corner at the end of the hallway, and I peeked with my perrefial vision to see if he was still following me. Shocked, I froze. He wasn't there. He was gone. But... I was sure he had been there. I hadn't hallucinated... had I?

_No...No, he's a vampire. He's capable of these kinds of things...I just have to be careful..._

I continued walking down the hallway, with the sense that I was safe. I thought perhaps I had just imagined it all.

Before I had taken even five steps, I was frozen with fear once more.

Edward Cullen was coming down the opposite end of the hall.

My chest heaved in and out as my breathing quickened. I realized that it would be obvious that I was avoiding him if I turned in the opposite direction. I had no choice but to keep walking. Then, I noticed the girls' bathroom. It was about halfway between us. I thought if I could get there first, I would be safe. Surely he wouldn't dare follow me in. I just had to get there first... I took my eyes away from him and looked straight ahead, as if I didn't even notice him. The two of us continued walking at the same speed, and it was obvious that if I didn't pick up my pace, I wouldn't get there in enough time. But surely he wouldn't just snatch me up right there in front of all the cameras. But then again, he was a vampire... He could get away with it easily. I picked up my pace a little as I drew closer to the restroom. Just as I started to turn into the bathroom, Edward grabbed my arm and slung me in. I slammed into the privacy wall and quickly ran around it and looked up at the small window towards the ceiling. Edward shut the door and twisted the door handle so that it jammed and thus impossible to get in...or out. Just as I started to jump up in an attempt to escape through the window, he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped as he clutched my arm. His skin was icy and hard.

"I transferred here from Denver."

"Liar."

"REALLY." I was shaking all over.

He clutched my arm harder and narrowed his eyes. "What are you?"

"What are you talking about?" I thought I would play stupid with him. Stupid mistake.

He slammed me into the wall. "Don't lie to me!" He growled. "You're a werewolf."

I decided to cut the stupid act. "And?"

"Why are you here? To kill innocents? To attack me or my family?" His voice grew louder.

"I don't even know you, you freak!" His interrogation was making me angry.

He snarled at me.

"I seriously just transferred here. Yeah, I guess it's inevitible denying I'm a werewolf. And you're a slimey wretched vampire. I have just as much right to be here as you do. It's not even my fault that I'm here! My father sent me to live with my mother, and here I am! I have no choice!" I snapped. I tried to make myslef sound confident, but it was obvious that I was still nervous, for I was shaking.

He seemed to be contemplating the situation.

"My parents don't know. They're not even wolves themselves. I was turned a few months ago, and I swore not to tell them. So I can't very well say, 'Hey, a vampire told me I have to leave Forks because I'm a wolf and his family was here first' now can I? Now you know the basics of my life story. You want fries with that?" I paused. "And by the way, I can't feel my arm."

He released my arm. "No one sent you here? You're not here on a ruthless killing rampage?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because that's how wolves are."

"Excuse me?? You're mistaken. And I know from first-hand experiences that you vampires are the ruthless ones."

"Oh, you do?"

"Yeah." I snapped.

"Please, do tell." He crossed his arms, his expression softening.

"It's none of your business."

"Just in case you haven't noticed, I'm your only way out of this bathroom." He smiled.

I looked at the door. He was right. Well, what was the hurt in telling him? He already knew...I wasn't releasing information...

"Waiting..." He pressed.

"I was attacked one night. A wolf saved me, but the vampire caught me again and gave him three choices: let him feed on me, let him turn me, or turn me himself. You can fill in the blanks."

He appeared apologetic. "Oh. That's...well, unfortunate."

"I don't need your sympathy." I snapped.

He rolled his golden eyes. "Just to let you know, all vampires are not...merciless..."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Have I killed you yet?"

"Well, I...no."

"Look, there's obviously just been a simple mistake... I haven't seen a werewolf in years... and the last time I saw one, it had moved into the city and attempted to ambush my sister. There's nothing wrong with taking precautions."

"Whatever. I bet your brothers and sisters don't know I'm not here to kill you."

"Actually...one knows..."

"What?"

"I was thinking outloud." He backed up a little, allowing me space.

"Well, if you see I'm no threat to you, what will you tell your family?"

"That you're simply here against your will. They won't mess with you if you don't mess with them. But if you are in anyway disrespectful to my family, then I'm afraid we'll have quite a large problem."

"And what makes you think your family will just accept your explination?"

"Because...I have a tight bond with my family, I guess you could say. They believe me. It doesn't mean they're gonna take a liking to you or anything, but they won't try to kill you on random impulse."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, you're talking to me like you know me or something." This boy aggravated me to a great extent.

"I believe what you've told me. You've not lied to me, except about being a wolf. But that was only to protect yourself because you weren't sure if I knew for a fact you were a wolf. So that's excused. And I believe you're not here for malevolent intents... So..."

"But I don't know of _your_ intents. For all I know, you could be attempting to trick me so you can kill me later."

He laughed. It was a sweet sound. "I already told you - not all vampires are merciless."

"And I already told you - I'll believe it when I see it."

"I'll prove it to you."

His comment shocked me. "_What?_" I hissed.

"You heard me. I'll prove it. Give me a week, and you be accepting me as your friend."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Just what I said. I'll prove to you that my family and I are not a bunch of wild beasts yearning to kill everything with decent blood. In fact, none of us even feed on humans, and we haven't for years. You shouldn't judge everyone just from one first-hand experience, no matter what it was. Consider this a week-long lesson."

"And if I refuse?"

"You won't have a choice."

"OH, YEAH?"

"Do you really want to irritate a family of vampires when you're the only wolf for hundreds of miles?"

"Ugh..." I thought about it. "Whatever. Just let me out of this forsaken restroom." I walked past him and towards the door.

"So why'd your parents name you Scottie? Isn't that kind of a guy's name?"

"I never told you my name."

"You'd be surprised at what I already know about you. It's the advantage of being a mindreader."

"That's just freaky."

He took an 'Out of Order sign off of one of the stalls and jerked open the door. He put the sign on the door and shut it.

"Clever." I said. Just then the bell rang.

"You're going to be late for Biology if you don't hurry."

I glared at him and began walking down the hallway towards my class.


	4. The Proof is in the Pudding

Well, that was bizarre, no? Edward's motives for wanting to prove to Scottie that his family isn't out to get him remain unknown until chapter six--POSSIBLY chapter five. Wah-hoo!! Guys try to get Scottie to go on dates, and Edward's siblings aren't too thrilled about befriending a werewolf. Edward explains to them that she's uninterested in harming them, NOR could she. Things begin to settle down... or do they?? R&R, folks. R-&-R!!!!!!!!!

_Chapter Four--The Proof is in the Pudding_

My last three classes went by more slowly than the first three. As if my little incident in the bathroom wasn't freaky enough, Edward's last three classes were the same as mine. When school finally let out, I rushed to my car, dodging snowballs being thrown back and forth across the courtyard. Just before I unlocked my door, some guy shouted my name. I turned to see a red-headed guy running towards me.

"Hey, Scottie! Remember me? You sat infront of me in trig."

"Oh...Ryan, right?"

"Yeah. Uh, I was wondering...Do you have plans tonight?"

"Actually...I have a lot of homework, and I'm trying to get settled into my new house...I'm sorry."

"No it's fine. Maybe I could show you around town soon?"

"Maybe...If I find the time."

"Great. Uh, see you tomorrow." He scuttled away, slipping on a patch of ice. I shook my head and slug my bag into the passenger seat. Then, I noticed the group of vampires approaching through the driver's side mirror. I pretended not to notice them as I slid into the leather seat and cranked the car. I pulled away without even a single glance towards them.

When I got home, the first thing I did was plop down on the couch. I was exhausted. The entire day had been so hectic - not to mention confusing and scary. After maybe 20 minutes of my lying there, there was a knock at the door. The hairs on my neck stood up as I jumped to my feet, catching a somewhat slightly familiar scent.

_Oh, no..._ I thought._ Not him... _I looked around to make sure the house wasn't a mess. It was the first time I actually noticed how pristine it was. I walked cautiously to the door and opened it. There stood a man and a woman.

"Hello, my name is Carlisle Cullens, and this is my wife Esme." The man said. "I hear from my son that you just moved into the neighborhood, and you even have a few classes with him, no?"

I was stunned. I couldn't figure out why they must have really shown up. "I - um - yes."

"Is your mother home? We thought we'd intoduce ourselves to her."

"A-Actually...She left the house before I left for school...She has to be at her office by 8 in the morning, and she doesn't get off until around 2 the next morning..."

"Wow. So you're here by yourself for a long time." Esme smiled. "It must be nerve wracking, not getting to see her very often."

"She has Sundays off...I-I'm sorry. Would you like to come in?" I felt totally rude.

"That's very nice of you, but we have to be going. We just thought we'd drop by." Carlisle said.

"We hope you have a wonderful evening." Esme added. They turned and started back toward their car when I called, "Uh, Mr.Cullens?"

He turned back to me, as did Esme.

I wasn't sure why I'd called them back. In fact, it seemed quite stupid... But I was confused. Surely they knew my secret. Why had they shown up JUST to say hello? I studdered for a second then said, "Thank you." They nodded, and then departed.

I shut the door and stood there. How much stranger could things get? To some point, I figured Edward had sent them. And it was like they couldn't care less whether I was wolf, human, or even one of the little Elwood Cookie Elves. They seemed like ordinary, nice people... except for the fact they were vampires. But then again... Edward had said that they didn't even feed on humans. A special diet? Maybe there was more kindness to this family than met the eye.

The next morning, Vivian woke me with her usual chatter. After she left, I performed my same ceremony: I turned on my stereo, took a shower, got dressed, skipped breakfast, grabbed my things, and left for school. I managed to park on a completely different side of the parking lot than the vampire family, much to my joy. My first three classes were the same as my first day - dull and obnoxious. However, when it came lunch time, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself.

_I won't run._ I told myself._ If Edward is really trying to prove something, he won't let them hurt me in anyway._

I walked through the doors, and was instantly looked upon by the vampires - something I expected. Except, only four of them watched me today. Where was Edward? I was also immediately spotted by Jess. She obducted me and had me sit with her, Ryan, and 3 other people, whose names were Brooke, Joshua, and Rocky. Brooke was a quiet girl who was in most of my classes. Rocky was Jess' boyfriend, and Joshua was his best friend - a real joker.

"Sooo...Scottie...Is there maybe a little something between you and Edward Cullens?" Jess asked.

"Whaaa? No, why?" I wondered if they knew about the day before.

"Well, maybe because he's been watching your every movement." Joshua smiled. "_Uh, oh!_" He teased.

"I haven't even seen him today, so how would I know?"

"Well, he's sitting at the table all the way in that far corner next to the windows. He's leaning back in his chair, watching you." Rocky raised an eyebrow. Jess snickered.

"Really, I don't even know the guy." Not very PERSONALLY, anyway.

"This is a once in a lifetime chance. NO GIRL has EVER been of ANY interest to him. It's clear he's interested in you, Scottie. You should take the chance and run with it."

This conversation was killing me. I was the only one who knew he could hear us. Then it occurred to me that he was a mindreader. I thought, _Edward? Are you really staring at me, and why? Give me a sign here._

"Oh my gosh! Scottie, he wants you to come sit with him!" Jess was hysterical.

"How do you know?"

"He's signaling for you!"

"Oh." I wasn't about to just abide by his every call. _I'm afraid you'll have to come and get me, Edward..._ I thought.

"SCOTTIE!" She hissed. "He's coming over here!"

I smiled, then an icy hand touched my shoulder. "Hello, Scottie." Edward said quietly.

"Can I help you with something, Edward?" I didn't look up at him.

"Actually, I was hoping I could persuade you to come and sit with me for a while."

_Why?_ I thought.

"Well?" He pressed.

Jess tapped my foot under the table. "Well, I suppose I could." I winked at Jess. Even Brooke was clearly excited for me. I stood and flanked him back to his table in the corner and sat across from him. I watched the snow swirling about outside through the windows. His skin was so pale, it almost matched the snow white ground.

_Your parents came to my house yesterday._

"I know." He whispered.

_You sent them?_

"No."

_Liar._

"My sister Alice was talking about you to them. They truly wanted to meet you."

_Your sister was talking about me to your parents?_

"She thinks you're pretty." Edward smiled. "Speaking of which, here she comes."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as she approached from behind me. She stopped at the table where we could both see her, then she looked at me. "Hi, I'm Alice, Edward's sister. He was telling us about you."

I looked at Edward._ You told her?_

"She knew. But we DID have a brief family conversation about you."

"Peachy..." I said.

"It wasn't bad." Alice assured me.

"That's nice..."

"Edward, I think we should have Scottie over tomorrow after school. Don't you agree?" Alice asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact... If she's not busy." He looked at me.

"I... That's very nice of you... But I don't think it's a very good idea." I thought of being in a house with a family of vampires... a family of vampires that I barely knew.

"We're not going to eat you, silly." Alice said. "Please? Edward could ride with you to give you instructions to the house. Our parents agree with it. All you have to do is confirm it with your mother."

"Well, I..."

Alice seemed so excited... I couldn't say no. "Okay, fine... But I have to drop by my house before I go."

"Deal!" She said, then she seemingly danced back to her table.

"See? We're not cruel... I was just being protective yesterday." He smiled.

"Yeah..."

"You don't agree?" He sounded curious.

"Well...I still don't really know you, or your family."  
"And what better way to get to know someone than to speak to and spend time with them?"

"I...Ah, you got me there..." I confessed.

He laughed softly as the bell rang. It looked as though Edward was proving me wrong. His family didn't seem very heartless at all... In fact, so far, I rather liked them. The more I thought about it, the more excited I grew about Friday. Maybe this Edward and his family weren't so bad after all...

That night I thought about Edward and his family, wondering what we would do the next day after school. I hoped Vivian would allow me to go without giving me a long speech. Yes, I was excited, but what I was REALLY thinking about was Edward himself. There was definitely something more to him than met the eye... And the more I was around him, the more I could tell he was hiding something from me. It worried me, but at the same time, I wanted to know what it was about. He was a very likable person... which could prove to be dangerous. I wondered what he really thought about me, and I wondered what his family would think about me. Unfortunately, I was not a mindreader like he was. I had only known Edward for two days, and I felt as though I were being drawn to him already.


	5. Cullens Residence

Okay. So to be completely honest, this story is getting WAY out of hand for me, and I'm the AUTHOR! I'm not sure where I'm going with this anymore, so it's going to be just as much as a surprise to me as it will be you. However, I promise I will try my very hardest to keep you entertained and on the edge of your seat. If in anyway the story starts to suck completely, let me know. But keep in mind that every story has it's down times, where things are boring. There is a lot that is going to be happening within the next few chapters, so pay attention. What exactly is going to happen, I'm not sure. It depends on my mood. LOL!

_Chapter Five--Cullens Residence_

I talked to Vivian Friday morning before she left about visiting the Cullens after school. She approved but told me not to be home too late. When I arrived at school, the only open space was next to the shiny silver Volvo. I figured it was planned. Just as the first two days, my first three classes were depressing. But I actually found myself thinking about Edward almost the entire time. I wasn't sure why, but I just had a strong urge to get to lunch. And when the lunch bell finally rang, I thought I might cry of happiness.

Once again, Edward had beconned me to sit with him, but not before allowing me time to visit my other friends. Jess and Brooke had been questioning me endlessly since first period. They were so excited, they sometimes even made the mistake of asking the same question more than once. I told them that we were just friends and we were getting to know each other. I explained to them that the whole purpose of me going to his house was just a way of welcoming me to the town.

"But what do YOU think of HIM?" Jess asked. I had never really considered it before. After thinking about the question, I decided NOT to think about it. If I did, he could easily find out, which could be dangerous, strange, or just embarrassing.

"Well," I said, "I'm not sure. I guess I haven't thought about it..."

"WHAT?! How could you NOT think about it?!"

I shrugged.

"Hm. He's waiting on you." Ryan said dully.

"Oh yeah?" _Are you waiting? If yes, lean back in your chair._ I thought. I liked the fact he could read my mind, even though I couldn't hear his thoughts. It made it easier to communicate secretly.

"Yeah. He's leaning back in his chair." Josh confirmed.

I sighed. "Okay... I'll see you guys in 4th." I stood up and walked over to Edward's table and sat down.

"So, are you coming today?"

I nodded my head. "I have to stop by my house first, though."

"Alright. Not a problem." He paused. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous, I guess."

"Nervous? Why?"

_Edward, seriously. I'm going to be in a house full of vampires, and I'm a wolf. We are supposed to be enemies._

"Who ever said that?"

_Well...I...No one..._

He smiled. "So then what's the worry?"

"I guess you're right..." I said.

"Yes I am. It's not a rule that we have to kill each other, so, there's no conflict. It's all just based on an old fight between the two races, and it's been passed down. Some believe we are sworn enemies, and the rest cope with each other. But we all feel the urge to dislike the other race because of our bloodlines, but we don't have to."

It made sense to me, so I questioned it no further. When the bell rang, I knew it would all be downhill from there. To make things even better, all of my last three classes had seating arrangement changes. And in all three classes, the teacher moved me next to Edward Cullen - every girl's dream. When the final bell rang, Edward followed me out to my car. Jess and Brooke gave me an encouraging look as they walked by. Ryan looked disappointed, judging by the way he waved, but wouldn't make eye contact with me. Was he jealous? Several groups of girls stared as the two of us walked across the parking lot. When a snobby chearleader and her pals thought I was out of earshot, she said, "How does a girl like _that _get with Edward Cullen? Surelt he has more sense than that. I mean, look at her. She's the most emo looking girl in the whole school."

I knew Edward heard her. I felt my blood boiling and I started to turn back to her and show her just how "emo" I could be, but Edward grabbed my arm and shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Let me go; I'll give _her_ a reason to be 'emo'."

"Don't worry about it. She's jealous."

"Is it my fault I look this way?"

"Shhh... keep your voice down." He laughed.

"I don't think this is funny. Not in the very least bit."

"Did you hear anything I said? She's _jealous_."

"So?"

"Then let her be jealous. It'll kill her."

I thought about it for a moment, then I sighed. "Whatever..." I decided to just let it go. We continued walking to my car. "But I'm gonna get her back later this year. You watch."

He smiled and shook his head. "Don't do anything too stupid."

Alice had taken Edward's car and they had already left. I unlocked the door and slid my seat back, then tossed my bag in the back. I turned back to him and took his bag, setting it in the back with mine. I slid the seat forward as he went around to the passenger side and opened the door. When I cranked the engine, the same CD had been playing for the past three days. I turned it down a little and thought for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked.

"Nothing's wrong... I just... I guess I'm still not so sure about this..."

He turned toward me in his seat and said, "Must I explain this to you again?"

"No, it's just... I was told that if I were provoked by a vampire, it would naturally make me angry, which would cause my blood to boil. If I get too angry, I can't control myself, and I change... Then, I can't be held responsible for my actions... And, I guess I'm just hoping it doesn't happen..."

"The only one who isn't thrilled about this is Rosalie, but that's because she's rather stuck-up, anyway."

"Great..." I said sarcastically. "I just need to run by my house and throw my stuff in my room, then check the mail."

"Alright. Let's go - this parking lot isn't going to get any emptier."

When we arrived at my house, I grabbed my bag and slug it over my shoulder. I walked over to the mailbox and grabbed emptied it, then dug my keys out from the side pocket and unlocked the door, ushering Edward inside. Edward followed me up the stairs and to my room as I sifted through the mail.

"You sure keep it clean, don't you?" He asked.

"Well... I guess... It was clean when I got here, and VIvian is never at home... I don't really do much except grab something to eat and sit in my room and do my homework. When I'm done with that mess, I usually just mess around on the computer or listen to the stereo. Other than that, nothing really goes on..."

"Ah. So... your mom works in an office?"

"Yeah, for some big business. She's a secretary in some city about an hour from here." I tossed the grocery store fliers on my dresser and flipped through the envelopes. Most of it was the monthly bills, but the last envelope had a familiar name on it. I froze, dropping all but the letter.

Raab Hurley

Denver, Colorado

Miss Scottie S. Evans

326 Emerald Drive

Forks, Washington

I thought I might pass out. I took a deep breath, but it didn't calm me down.

"Scottie?" Edward's voice was fuzzy.

"Yeah?"

"What is it?"

"It's...It's from Raab... The wolf that saved me..."

Edward was silent for a moment. "...Are you going to open it?"

"How'd he find me...?" The question was more to myself than to Edward.

"Anything is possible... Are you worried?"

"No. Just... shocked. I never thought I'd hear from him again." I tore into the letter and read it silently.

"Dear Scottie,

I know you must be shocked to receive this. We lost touch, and I never had the chance to explain a few fine details about your change, or to even tell you goodbye. This is the only way I can get in touch with you at the moment. I know you must be busy, so I'll try to make this simple and quick. First off, I need you to set up an email address so I can reach you more quickly. It will be safer. Second, you will find a thin silver ring in this envelope. Put it on and keep it on at all times. Silver keeps us from changing when we lose our temper. However, if it gets into the hands of an enemy, they can use it against you and thus, kill you. I won't say how, incase this letter is found. (I trust you will shred it, burn it, and flush it). You will be experiencing changes and gaining new abilities within the next month, so take careful note. These abilities could mean the difference between life an death if you're ever in trouble. Third, do not panic at this, for I'm not intending to frighten you... But there are enemies in Forks. Ones that you and I understand about... So please, be careful. And do not lose that ring, nor should you intrust anyone with it. I will try to visit you just to check in. Oh, and your father is fine. He's been a might confused by your final words to him, but he is coping well. Good luck, and stay safe. I'll visit you next Wednesday after school.

Take Care,

Raab Hurley"

I thought really hard about his letter. He'd said something about enemies...

_If only he knew these 'enemies' mean me no harm._ I thought. Then it occurred to me that I'd read the letter in my mind. I turned to Edward, who had been staring at my dark green carpet. He looked up at me.

"Were you listening to me?"

"Hm? Oh. No, as a matter of fact. I thought... This was your personal business, and I should keep my nose out of it."

I smiled. He was very considerate. "Thank you... It kind of was." I looked in the envelope and pulled out a thin, yet intricate silver ring and slipped it onto my right middle finger. "He said... that I should wear something silver, because it will keep me from changing incase I lose my temper."

"That's true... You should keep it very safe, though... Vampires know how to destroy a wolf... And wolves know how to destroy a vampire... It's a dangerous game, being inhuman. But it also has its perks."

I smiled. " He wants to come visit me next Wednesday, just to check in. And he wants me to set up an email address so he can get in touch with me easily."

"That's a clever idea."

"Mmm, hmm..." I tore up the letter and the envelope, then walked into the bathroom and flushed it. "I can skip the burning part." I said to myself. It was more of a joke than a comment.

"Well...uh... I guess that's everything..."

"Great. So you're ready, then?"

"Yes...and no..."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I'm not explaining this to you anymore." We went downstairs and locked the door on the way out. He stopped me and held out his hand.

"I'm driving." He said.

"What?" I looked at him in disbelief. "No you're not."

"Do you know the way to my house?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Okay then." He snatched the keys with incredible speed, then went and opened the passenger side door for me. I shook my head and stepped in, then he shut my door and went around to the driver side.

He lived on the other side of Forks, but the same distance from the school as I lived. It took us about 30 minutes to get to his house. When we arrived, I thought I might fall out cold. His house was beautiful... and huge.

"Wow..." I whispered.

"Eh, it's nothing, really."

Alice came out the front door wearing a cute white sundress. She waved to us, then stepped out on the porch. Jasper followed her, and Emmett stood in the doorway. For some odd reason, I felt much calmer than I had expected. I actually wasn't shaking all over. I looked down at my hands and noticed the ring. I figured maybe the silver had something to do with it. We got out and Edward came around and handed me the keys with a smile.

"Remember, just ignore Rosalie if she's being rude. And if it makes you feel any better, my parents like you."

"Oh yeah?" I was surprised. "They barely know me..."

"That's all it takes." He smiled and led me up the stairs. "Welcome to the Cullens residence." He whispered.


	6. Enrichment

So Scottie visits the Cullens. But will things turn out as well as she and Edward hope? Or will something explosive happen? Either is a possiblity. I know I said I would try and reveal somethings about Edward, but... It just seems to soon. Why rush a story? So yeah... Raab makes his official entrance as a main character this chapter, and Scottie's wolf abilities begin to blossom... but not without giving her some trouble in the process. Life's not always easy. This chapter should be pretty funny. If you don't agree, then you suck.

_Chapter Six--Enrichment_

I wasn't really sure what we were going to do at his house, and I wasn't sure if I should be excited or scared. Had Raab had a reason for telling me the Cullens were enemies? I thought about it and finally told myself that they couldn't be. He hadn't mentioned them by name, so maybe he was just assuming. In any case, I was there - at their house - and it was obvious that Edward was determined to be a friend rather than a foe.

We entered their house just as Esme and Carlisle were decending the staircase.

"Hello again, Scottie." Carlisle smiled. "How as your day been?"

"Um, great. And yours?"

"Full of anticipation. We've been excited about having you over this afternoon."

I flushed slightly. I wasn't expecting to hear _that._

Edward looked to Esme. "Where's Rosalie?"

"She's upstairs. We just came from her room..."

Edward looked irritated, but he smiled and appeared to shake it off. "Alright. No big deal." He shrugged.

"Well, Scottie, of course you know Edward through class. But have you met Emmett, Jasper, and Alice?" Esme asked.

"Well, I met Alice at lunch yesterday. I was sitting with Edward and she came over."

They walked over to me and Emmett shook my hand. His skin was - like Edward's - cold and strong. "I'm Emmett. And that's Jasper."

Jasper smiled lightly and shook my hand as well. "Hello, Scottie." His handshake was much lighter that Emmett's.

"I think... We should all go sit out on the back porch and talk or something. Sounds better than just standing around here." Alice led us out the back door and onto the porch. Before Jasper shut the door behind me, I heard Edward talking to Esme and Carlisle.

"...don't know what her problem is. Why is she acting like this?"

"She doesn't believe in associating with ANY wolf, no matter how genuinely friendly or harmless they may be."

"Just don't worry about it Edward. She'll come around soon enough. We'll go and talk to her. Go join your guest."

Emmett pulled the furniture around in a circle. There were three chairs and two small couches. Alice sat on one of the couches and patted the middle seat beside her, signaling for me. I went over and sat next to her, and Jasper sat across from Alice, and Emmett sat in the chair next to the couch Alice and I were sitting on.

"You're a junior, right?" Alice asked.

"Yes." I answered. I felt slightly uncomfortable without Edward there with us.

"Your birthday must be coming up, no?"

"Two weeks from tomorrow."

"Oh, wow."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Emmett nudge Jasper.

"Uh, did you have any plans?" Jasper asked.

"No. I actually planned to keep it a secret. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, you know?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah... It does seem kind of pointless, celebrating a birthday..."

Edward finally came out. He was smiling pleasantly as he sat next to Jasper, across from me. "What did I miss?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. We've just been talking." Alice responded.

"What about?" He leaned back and crossed his arms.

"School..." Alice nudged me lightly. She was keeping my birthday confidential. I couldn't help but smile.

"What do you do for fun?" Emmett asked.

"For fun...? I... um... well, in Denver I did a lot of snowboarding. I ran track and played soccer for the high school... But here, I pretty much just goof of... Basically." I thought about it, then shook my head. "In other words, currently, not really anything at all."

They laughed.

"We play baseball." Emmett reached over and gave Edward a shove.

"Rather violent baseball." Alice added.

"How so?" I was curious.

"WELL... we pretty much just put all our power into it, if you know what I mean." Edward explained.

"Oh. NOW I get it...Wow, that must get pretty rough."

"Sometimes." Emmett confirmed.

"Umm... Is it always dark and cloudy here?" It hadn't been sunny once since my first day in Forks, and there was still snow on the ground from Wednesday. I wondered if it would snow again. I rather enjoyed it.

"For the most part. Even in the summer." Jasper said.

"That's nice..."

"Of course, we don't go to school on sunny days..." Alice said quietly. I figured it was a vampire thing, but before I could question it further, she said, "Health reasons."

I said nothing for a moment as I thought about the current situation. They were treating me like I was one of them - Like I was a simple friend. I was confused; I thought they'd surely be at least slightly hostile, and I even figured we'd be on more... inhuman subjects. But instead we were sitting around, talking about school, sports, and even the weather. Not to mention, I probably shouldn't even be there. I never should have begun associating with Edward and his family to begin with. It was dangerous, wreckless. A sick feeling crawled into my stomach as I thought of the fact that they may very well be tricking me. The feeling grew sour and made me want to grit my teeth together. I tried to keep myself from thinking about it, because I didn't want Edward to know that I felt scared. I wasn't sure if he was reading my mind at the moment or not, and there was really only two ways to find out. One was to ask him. The other - my favorite - was to think the question.

"Scottie?" Alice nudged me.

"Huh?" I guessed I'd zoned out. "Oh, sorry... I was just thinking."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I-..." Then it occurred to me that, no. No, I wasn't okay. I thought I was about to pass out. "I'm fine..." I tried to just shake it off. I remembered what I had been thinking about: Had Edward been listening to what I was thinking? I decided to find out. I thought, _Edward? Uh...are you...listening to me...? Blink once if yes..._

He blinked once, paused, then asked, "Are you sure you're feeling okay? Carlisle is a doctor-"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I-I really was fine a moment ago, but now I just... It's like I feel sore all over, and my nose is starting to burn..."

It was true. My body was aching and it felt as though someone had lit a torch up my nose (as odd as it sounds).

Jasper stood up and walked over to the porch railing and scooped a little bit of snow. He packed it into a ball and handed it to me. I put it on my nose and leaned forward. Then I began to feel kind of dizzy. Edward suddenly stood up and looked at Emmett. Emmett nodded and walked over to Jasper, whispered something to him, then the two of them went inside. Just as the door shut behind them, I realized that the ball of ice had melted (of course), and blood was smeared all over my hand.

"Scottie, your nose is bleeding." Alice said softly. She looked up at Edward, who nodded, and then she, too, went inside.

_Edward, what's happening to me?_

"I'm not sure."

_Why did they leave?_

"It's something about your blood... Scottie, it smells almost like a human's, only...magnified... Your scent should repel us, since you're a wolf. But you were turned into one, so it's different from being born a werewolf... instead of repelling us, it doesn't attract us in the way a human's does, but it does smell nice..."

_You said you-_

"I know what I said, but it doesn't mean we don't have urges. We have just learned to control ourselves."

_Why are you still out here, then?_

"I'm fighting it. I need to be out here for you."

_Edward, I'm not even fully a wolf yet; you could kill me!_

"I won't."

_You could!_

"I WON'T."

_How?! What if you-_

"Trust me."

_What do I do?_

He stepped toward me and easily scooped me into his arms, then carried me out to the woods. He put me on my feet near a tree so that I could support myself. He took a few steps back and said, "Just let it all drain out onto the ground."

I moved my hand and watched the blood drip onto the snow. Within seconds, my blood faded from it's natural crimson color to a deeper, more shimmery shade. I continued looking at it in a state of disbelief. _Why is it changing color?_ I thought.

"Scottie, I'm a vampire, not a wolf expert. But if this is what I think it is, your senses are... upgrading to that of a wolf's, I guess you could say. Every one of you senses should go through a change similar to this one. Yes, they may have already strengthened, but this is the official change. I guess you could call it an enrichment of your senses... I'm not sure of how to help you..."

The blood soon ceased to drip and I said, "Don't worry about it...I think it's stopping." And sure enough, it had. Alice ran up to us a few seconds later and handed me some tissue.

"Here..." She cleaned my face as I wiped it off of my hands. I picked it out from under my fingernails and between my fingers. She threw the tissue out into the woods and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Definitely." I stood up straight and sniffed in, then instantly got dizzy and passed out.


	7. Blindsighted

Scottie's first sense to become "enriched" was her sense of smell. The first time she breathed through her nose after the change, she passed out-- even after saying she was "definitely" okay. So much for that. Any idea why? If not, you'll find out this chapter. For the next couple of chapters, she's going to be experiencing more of these changes... And the true "bad-guy" of the story comes in REEEEEEAL soon. O.o

Don't forget to R&R... Or I'll stop writing.

Oh yeah-- I don't own Krispy Kreme, Burger King, McDonald's, The Used, or Linkin Park ... or Elwood Cookies, Steven King, or Comeback Kid. (however, if I did, it'd be pretty cool...and I'd be filthy freakin rich... and I'd buy Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart: everyone's favorite places for all things cheap and plastic.)

OH, and I believe I will begin each chapter with a non-sensical (I think that's how you spell it) paragraph, followed by the song I am currently listening to and a quote (in some cases, a very LONG quote...) from it, and at the end, I will name the song (along with a quote) that is playing as I finish up. I. Am. Brilliant. Muchos gracias. .

_**Atreyu - You Eclipsed By Me: "I will not be broken, though I am the one that bleeds. I will not be broken. I am. The one."**_

_Chapter Seven-- Blindsighted_

When I finally awoke, I couldn't quite figure out where I was. I sat up and looked around, then realized I was lying on my bed. I looked over at the clock on my stereo. It read 11:36 PM. I started to sit up, but hesitated; I had a terrible headache. My head felt like it must've weighed about 30 pounds. I forced myself upright and sighed, wondering why I felt as though I'd forgotten something very important.

"I wondered if you'd ever wake."

I jumped up, lost my balance, and fell in the floor.

Edward was on the other side of my room, sitting in my swiveling desk chair, laughing. "Beautiful." He said.

I gave him a slightly dirty look and sat up on my knees. "What are _you_ doing here?"

He sat forward a little and responded, "You say that like you're disappointed."

"Well, I guess I just wasn't expecting it..."

"Does this mean you're NOT disappointed?"

I thought about it for a second. It was kind of strange how I went from being absolutely terrified and not wanting to have him anywhere near me, to viewing him as a friend and wanting him near me... and _still_ somewhat terrified of him. It wasn't necessarily _him_ that I was terrified of, but of what he was capable of doing.

"No..." I answered. "I suppose not."

He smiled, pausing for a moment. "...How are you feeling?"

I didn't understand what he meant. "What are you talking about?"

"You really don't remember?" He looked at me, concerned. "You came over after school and we sat out on my porch and talked with Alice, Jasper, and Emmett, then you weren't feeling well and you got a nose bleed."

The memory flooded back to me. "OH...That... Yes, well... NOW I remember."

He sat back again and smiled, shaking his head at me. "When your nose stopped bleeding, you said were fine, then passed out. I carried you inside and told Esme and Carlisle what had happened, and that I was going to take you home. So I put you in your car, drove you home, put you in your bed... and here we are."

"And... you're still here?"

"Well, of course."

"Why didn't you just leave? What if Vivian had come home and seen you here? She'd have flipped out and called the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Homeland Security, the E.R., and Krispy Kreme!"

Edward looked at me as though I was the most bizarre thing he'd ever seen. "...Krispy Kreme?"

"Viv loves Krispy Kreme. She says their eclaires help calm her nerves."

Edward raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "That's...amusing."

I yawned, then stretched out on the soft carpet.

"So, why DID you pass out? Or do you even know?"

The truth was, I did know. But I wasn't about to tell HIM. So I said, "No clue. I just felt dizzy."

He smirked. "That's 50/50."

"What do you mean?" I knew I couldn't lie to him. He was a mind reader, and he knew what I was thinking. But I would NOT confess. I would keep every bit of dignity I still possessed... even though there was very little.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken."

"I'm afraid YOU'RE mistaken, MISS." He stood up, smirking. " That's only half the truth. I'm offering you the chance to just spill it ALL..."

"I have nothing more to say on the subject." I propped my head up using my elbows as I looked up at him.

"Last chance." He threatened, walking slowly toward me.

"I said, I have nothing more to say."

"Why must you lie to me, Scottie? You know I know what you're thinking, so why hide it?"

"Why say what someone already knows?" I challenged.

"...Fitting rebuttal." He smiled, walking around me.

Why he was prying so hard, I didn't understand. The reason I had passed out was because of his scent. It was the first time I had experienced the full extent of it. It was incredibly sweet; like if you go to Burger King or McDonald's and get their sweet tea-- It's WAY too sweet. Sometimes they put so much sugar in it, it makes you feel like you're going to choke. His scent made me dizzy,causing me to lose conscienceness. I could smell him from where I was lying, however it wasn't as strong as the first time.

He crouched next to me, as close as he could without standing on me. I breathed in, and my eyes went slightly out of focus.

"Sooo... Why did you get all dizzy?"

"Burger King..."

"What?"

"Sweet...tea..." I giggled. _Is this what being stoned feels like? _I couldn't concentrate. My chin slipped, causing my face to smash into the carpet. "Oh. I mean... Ow..."

Edward laughed. "WELL..."

"Why?"

"_What?_" He sounded confused.

"WHEN?"

"...Oh. Where?" He caught on to my little... game, I guess you could call it.

"Who?"

"How?"

"Cow." I pointed to his knee.

"Okay. That's quite enough." He lifted me to my feet with ease, then held onto my shoulders, making sure I wouldn't fall over. "Are you going to be all disoriented every time I'm near you? Because if so, I may have to stay away, for YOUR safety."

"No, I'm fine. Just, a little O.D.ed... It'll take a bit of getting used to, I guess."

He pushed me back to my bed and sat me down. "Well, now I know you're okay... at least, there seems to be no MAJOR issue... So... I guess I'll be going. Your mother will be home soon."

"Oh... okay... Thanks, Edward..."

"You're wecome." He slid my feet onto the bed, then crossed the room to my door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

He shut the door quietly behind him.

The next day, I woke up around 10:00 AM. I laid in bed, thinking about the day before. I sighed, then caught the scent of the coffee downstairs. I guessed that Vivian left some for me. I finally forced myself out of bed around 10:33, and looked in the mirror. I was a mess. My black hair was straight as usual, yet there were obvious signs of bed head. I had laid in bed for a while after Edward left me, but maybe ten minutes after, I had changed into my bed clothes. They consisted of a pair of cotton shorts that had the The Used heart on the front of the right leg, and a Linkin Park t-shirt... which were both wrinkled, of course. I scratched my head and walked downstairs. I jumped off the last stair and then headed for the kitchen, spotting a piece of paper in front of the coffee pot.

"Good Morning, Scottie! I hope you slept well. As you can see, I'm off to work, and I left you some fresh coffee in the pot. It's yours for the taking if you're interested. I have a spot of bad news... I've been called on to do a presentation in L.A., Cali. See, I was supposed to be the back up incase Michelle Moores got sick and - low and behold - she picked today to catch pneumonia! So... I'll have to get a hotel room and spend the night tonight, become familiar with the material tomorrow, attend a long board meeting Monday, then present later that evening, and fly back home Tuesday and go to work, and I'll be home when I'm done (which will be around the normal time, which will be around 2:00 AM Wednesday). The good news is, I won't have to go into work until noon on Wednesday, and I'll be home around 9:00 that evening. I'm so sorry, Scottie! I know I've been meaning to spend time with you, and I had so much planned for Sunday, but now that might as well be flushed down the commode. I'd have offered to take you, but you'd have to miss school. I hope you'll forgive me, and if you need anything, call my cell phone. I'll see you Wednesday!

I love you!

--Vivian McEvoycell: 876-744-8138"

I looked at the coffee pot with sudden disinterest. I realized I suddenly had no interest in anything. My eyes started to water. NOT because of Vivian. But because they burned. I rubbed them, which gave me relief, and walked over to the couch. I stared at it for a minute, then walked to the kitchen again.

I grabbed the last green apple from the crisper in the refridgerator and took a large bite out of it, then I stared at it. For some reason, I felt as though the apple had spoken to me.

_What?_

**Put me back.** It said. **Put me back, please?**

_Uhhh..._

**Please?**

I was a little too hungry to even consider it. _ Nope. Sorry, pal._ I started to take a bite when it let out a high pitch squeal. I flinched and looked at the apple in disbelief. _What the hell is the matter with you?_

**Please put me back?**

_No. N-O. Do you know what that means?_

_I'll tell you what it means. It means... uh... It means I'm going to eat you._ I started to take a bite again when suddenly, a face appeared on the apple. I jumped, a little more freaked out than before.

**PUT ME DOWN.** Its voice was evil and demonic-sounding. I subconsciencely heard someone knock on the door. **PUT-ME-DOWN.** It said again. I continued to stare at the apple, in a daze.

Then, it clicked. I understood. _You're Satan, aren't you?_

**NO. IF I WERE SATAN, I'D BE A RED APPLE, DUMBASS.**

"Scottie?"

I turned and looked at Edward, who came through the door. I looked from him to the apple, then to him and back down again.

"Are you feeling okay?"

I rubbed my eyes with my free hand. They were beginning to burn badly, as though I'd accidentally used pepper juice instead of eyedrops. I wiped the tears and looked at the apple again.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"He called me a dumbass...I'm not a dumbass. I'm not stupid..." I said, still dazed.

"SCOTTIE."

"I'm NOT stupid."

"SCOTTIE."

"I'm NOT."

**"SCOTTIE."**

"I'M NOT."

_**"SCOTTIE!"**_

I snapped back to reality. I looked up to see Edward standing in my kitchen.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" He asked, a sort of smile on his face.

I looked down at my hand. I was holding Vivian's letter. I set it on the counter and looked at Edward.

"I was... daydreaming... about a green apple I was eating. I think it was Satan."

Edward surpressed his laughter and shook his head. "You are a piece of work..." He said.

"I know." I remembered I was in my bed clothes. "AH! EDWARD!"

"What did I do?"

"I'm kinda, like, not dressed!"

"You think I'm looking at what you're wearing?"

"Well - I - ..." I stomped my foot. "I don't know!!"

He shook his head again, scratching his chin. "No, I'm not."

"It doesn't matter. I still look crappy." I rubbed my eyes again.

"Not really. You just look tired."

"...ANYWAY. Did you need something, or...?"

"Nothing really, I just came to check on you; see what you had planned for the day."

I handed him Vivian's letter. "Nothing."

He read it and handed it back to me, and I put it in the trash.

"Wow... four days?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I just came to see you. I guess I'll talk to you later." He started for the door.

"Edward, wait."

He turned back to me. I felt kind of stupid, like I did when I called Carlisle and Esme back earlier in the week. I wanted him to stay, and he knew it. So, then why was he leaving? I knew why: because he wanted to hear me SAY it. I decided to allow him the pleasure - just this once. I couldn't make a habit of letting him have his way.

"Do you want to stay here for a while?" I wiped my eyes again. One reason I wanted him to stay was because I had a bad feeling... I felt as though there was a reason for my eyes burning... a werewolf-related reason. The second reason was because I suddenly didn't feel very safe. I knew if he were there with me, I WOULD be safe. He smiled.

"Sure, why not?"

To some point, I wasn't sure why he'd decided to stay. I didn't know if it was because he knew I was worried, or if he simply wanted to.

"Both." He said.

"What?" Then I knew; he'd read my mind.

He smiled. "Your eyes are bloodshot."

"They are?" I knew what was coming...

"Come on..." He swept me off my feet and made his way up the stairs and to my room. "We don't need you passing out again." He teased. He set me on the bed and then sat at the foot, across from me. I felt myself breaking into a cold sweat as my eyesight began to get fuzzy and dark, and the area arond them ached.

"What a rip-off. I thought my eyesight was going to get BETTER." I said.

Edward laughed and said, "What's happening?"

"I can't see..." Within seconds, everything was black. I looked up at where I remembered him being, and there was a white oval. "Oh, wait... I think... I think I see you... Move to the side or something."

He moved forward, and the white oval pulsed. "What is it?"

"Everything is black, but I see a white oval sort of shape, like light. And when I look away from you, it moves out of my sight. The light is you!" I was amused, even though I was in pain.

"You should see what I'm seeing..." He whispered.

"What's happening?"

"Well, your upper eyelids are fading to a light red color, like you smeared red shimmery blush across them, to the crease. It's not a vivid red, but it's not really pale. It's also spreading to your lower lids, but it's a thinner line; you have to be looking for it to see it... Oh... now the area below the red on your lower lids is getting darker, like you haven't had any sleep. It's not sagging, but it's certainly getting dark, like bruises... like the red, it's not REALLY dark, but it's not just barely there... your eyelashes got a little longer... and... your irises are glowing."

"There's a green ring around the white oval..." I said.

"...Does it hurt?"

"Yes..."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's not YOUR fault." I sighed.

_**Atreyu - Bleeding Mascara: "A wraith with an angel's body. A demon with a smile of gold. You soul sucker, I won't become like you. A killer with the perfect weapons. Crystal eyes with a heart of coal. You soul sucker, I won't lose myself in you."**_


	8. Reunion

Chapter 7 wound up being longer than I expected... Probably because of the apple-thing. Omigosh, no, I actually am not a stoner, pot head, or anything else than could affect my mental health. I just thought it'd be funny. Anyway, it's kind of a bad time for Scottie to be going through another one of these stages. Why? I'm not telling; you have to read - DUH. Gah, loser. p

Oh! Look at my smiley! **- (p**

If anyone can figure it out, send me a review with what it is and your name, and I'll put you in the story as a "guest starring" type thing. I love these kinds of things. 3

Oh. eBay isn't mine. It belongs to some faggot who thought that a yard sale just wasn't good enough.

_**Atreyu - Demonology and Heartache: "I know what it's like when memories make you wince and love letters read like obituarties and photo albums are books of the dead. I need no more reminders. I'll forget the past and lay it to rest."**_

_Chapter Eight-- Reunion_

We sat there on my bed far what felt like a long time. I was thinking about why it was written in my fate to become this creature, and without a doubt, Edward was listening. I searched my heart, pouring what little bit of it was left into my head so that, if I'd missed something, I could find it. I thought of everything: the pain of being thrown around that night, the thoughts running through my head as I watched Raab fight the vampire, the fear, the feeling of having all of my blood frozen in my veins when I was bitten... and the empty, hollow feeling I felt the following day, when I laid in my bed the entire day, never moving a muscle. I remembered how I'd been scared everytime I looked in the mirror. The paranoia, the nightmares... the tears, the prayers... the day I gave up... the final day with dad...

Everything.

A quarter of my heart floated around in my head. Everything that I felt that night, and thus, everything I wanted so badly to forget, was just floating on the surface of my mind. That was all I had left to think about.

Half of it was still with my dad. I at least owed him that much.

The final quarter was trapped behind my sternum, empty, slowly blackening. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I figured I'd just let it rot there... I couldn't think of anything better. I'd have gladly sold it on eBay, if I thought anyone could fix it up and send it back. But I highly doubted it. In my opinion, it was beyond repair... like Michael Jackson's face.

Suddenly Edward jumped to his feet and the hair on my neck stood straight up. I wasn't sure what was going on; everything after that was pretty much a blur - besides the fact I couldn't see jack shhh... crap.

Edward grabbed my wrist and whispered, "We have to get out of here..."

I had the feeling that he understood more than I did, but I knew we were in danger. He led me quickly down the stairs and we were almost to the door when a loud growl caused Edward to spin me around and push me in front of him, and we began running. I slammed into a wall as I heard Edward fumbling with a door handle.

"Dammit!" He cursed. I figured we were at the back door, considering it was a difficult door to open. Before we could begin running again, I felt myself thrown to the floor as Edward let a loud growl rip through his throat. I heard the couch flip over as I watched the white oval jump up and then dash forward. It came back towards me and I felt Edward grab my wrist again. He made a mad dash for the front door, then pulled me in front of him. I heard the threatening roars come again as I was separated from Edward again. I suddenly had a violent headache and, to my delight, my eyesight began to fade back in. The white oval slowly became Edward, who was crouching infront of me across from another figure. I blinked a few times, each increasing my ability to see again. When my eyesight was back, I could see thousands of times better than I had been able to before. But when I realized who our attacker was, I wished I were still blind.

Crouched in front of Edward was a vampire that I knew all-too-well.

He noticed I was staring at him and said, "Oh, so lovely... You've turned out _so_ much more... exquisite... than I could have hoped for."

Edward growled at him, staying close to me.

"Why do you look at me in such a hateful way? You don't remember me?" He teased.

I felt my blood trying to heat.

"Why, tis I, your good friend Malikai. We met a few months back, don't you remember?"

I got to my feet slowly and took a step forward subconsciencely.

"You, Raab, and I, we all had such a lovely time." He laughed. "You keep such interesting company..." Malikai looked at Edward.

"Stay back, Scottie." Edward ordered, but I couldn't stop myself.

_It's HIM...It's HIS fault I'm this thing...It's his fault... it's all his fault...I...I'll kill him...I'll make him wish he had never attempted to turn me into his personal chew toy. I'll show him just how much I've changed...I'll kill him...He'll be wishing he were dead before I even get close to killing him...he'll beg for mercy the way I had...I'll kill him..._

"SCOTTIE!" Edward's roar didn't reach me.

I reached for my ring and slid it off my finger.

_No! You're not ready for this yet!!_ Edward's voice echoed in my head. I was shocked that I could hear his thoughts, but I wouldn't allow myself to deviate. I felt my blood turn hot as my anger rose. Then, my bones felt as though they we under a vicegrip.

Malikai laughed. "YES!!" He shouted. "TURN, you flithy bitch! TURN!"

"NO!" Edward growled at me. _Put the ring back on, Scottie! Please! Do it for me!_

I felt a tinge of guilt, but it didn't register in my mind. I felt a low growl rise up through my chest. I allowed it to come through, and the kitchen and living room windows shattered. It was nothing like that of Edward's or Malikai's. Where their's thundered or boomed, mine was like a sonic boom. Malikai laughed again, enjoying the show.

_Scottie, PLEASE! I'm begging you! Put the ring back on!_

I felt the pressure on my bones tighten.

_YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!!_

The bones in my right forearm shattered. I dropped the ring, and fell to my knees in pain.

Malikai burst into a fit of excited, maniacal laughter as Edward roared and jumped at him.

I fell onto my side, the rest of my bones beginning to go under more pressure. I watched as Edward and Malikai fought, but not for long. The pain knocked me out cold. The last thing I remembered was seeing four pairs of feet run past me toward Edward and Malikai.

I awoke hours later, to see a ceiling. I felt something cold under me, but didn't care to find out what it was; I was too busy scolding myself mentally. I recalled what had happened, but wasn't quite sure of my whereabouts. Someone leaned over me and said, "Hey, you're awake." It took me a minute to think about it, but I finally realized it was Alice.

"How's your arm?" She asked.

"Uhh..." I was hoarse.

"Your right arm."

I looked down at my arm, which was rested on my diaphragm. "Okay..." I responded. Although it was still incredibly sore, I could move it, which was all I really cared about. I wiggled my fingers, then noticed my ring was on my left hand. I carefully replaced it on my right hand. I had this weird thing for not being able to stand having a ring on any finger but my right middle. I looked around half-heartedly, guessing that I was at the Cullens' house. But... where was Edward? I began to raise up in a fit of panic, but was pulled back down. I thought it was because I didn't have enough strength, so I tried one more time. Once again, I was pulled back down. I looked up and to the right to see that I was obviously lying on a black leather couch. I tried to roll onto my right side and looked up towards the arm of the couch. Before the arm of the couch even came into my view, I realized that the cold thing that had been next to me was none other than Edward himself.

"Oh my God, you're ALIVE!" I tried to shout.

He smiled, surpressing a laugh. "Sorry, what was that?" He teased.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't start on my voice." I was angry that I was hoarse; it made my voice sound funky.

"Did I SAY, 'hey your voice is weird'? NO."

"That doesn't mean you weren't implying it."

He shook his head. "So how are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess..."

"That's good news... Scottie..."

I knew what was coming.

"You could have killed yourself. What you did was extremely wreckless and irresponsible. You should have thought before putting your actions into play. You should have LISTENED to me, Scottie. You're not ready to go into a change like that yet. It's like you said, you haven't even made the full change yet. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? You only got lucky because Alice and the others showed up. Had Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett not been there to help me distract Malikai, and had Alice not been there to get you, I'd have lost you. I couldn't fight him off AND protect you. But we managed to scare him off, and Alice brought you back here."

I thought I might fall back to sleep in the midst of his lecture. "You're like Vivian."

"What? After all that I just said to you, all you can do is compare me to your mother?"

I yawned, and it created a little whine-sound at the end. It made him laugh.

"I'm trying to be irritated with you."

"I guess it's not working."

He paused then said, "I guess not."

I sat up and looked around. I wasn't surprised at how sore I felt. My entire body ached down in the bones, and I was afraid if I moved too suddenly, I would fall apart. I stood up and looked down at him, still lying on the couch.

"Edward, I'm sorry. I just wasn't thinking. I hate Malikai with an immense passion, and the only thought running through my head was - well, you heard, of course. And that's all I could concentrate on. The only thing I could think of to do was allow myself to get furious enough that he couldn't possibly stop me. Now that I think of it, it WAS stupid and wreckless. I don't know what I was thinking when trying to convince myself that I could kill him then and there. It won't happen again... until I'm ready."

He was silent, as was I. I stood there, thinking, until I began to get a headache. JUST what I needed...NOT.

"Edward..." I rubbed my eyes with irritation. "I think I'm-"

"I know." He cut me off. He got off the couch and said, "Lie down; I'm going to go down stairs for a minute, and then I'll be back."

"But-"

"_Lie down._"

I did as I was instructed and sat on the couch as he left the room. A few moments later, my headache became worse, so I lied down and closed my eyes, hearing my heartbeat pound in my ears.

_**Atreyu - Five Vicodin Chased With A Shot Of Clarity: "I'm sorry, I don't think it's going to be okay this time. My heart has skipped it's final beat, it's beating me down on the floor. That must mean that the pills are working."**_


	9. Ear Candy

I do believe that the thing that fuels my imaginination (and thus, this story) is my stereo, accompanied by my CDs. So, I would like to thank Sony and all producers of my favorite CDs. You guys are awesome... even thought you're not reading this... and never will...

Anyway... Atreyu is a good imagination builder - especially to a story like this. And I love music. Mega hearts. 3

_**Atreyu - The Crimson: "And all I have is hope. And all I need is time, to bury in pine under six feet of time the lies I told me about myself. Claw my way out, pick the splinters from under my fingernails. I won't lose hope, I won't give in. Just live and breathe, and try not to die again."**_

_Chapter Nine-- Ear Candy_

I went from lying on the couch to curled up in agonizing pain. My headache had decended to my ears, and I felt as though someone was feeding an electric-shock rod through one ear and out the other. I put my hands over my ears and held them tightly, wishing the pain would go away. Unfortunately, it only seemed to be making it worse. I buried my face in the the room. Edward was not there. I came to the conclusion that he had either come back and left when he found I had fallen asleep, or he had leather cushions and gritted my teeth. I eventually dozed off - for how long, I was unsure - and when I awoke, the pain was gone. At first I thought that I had been dreaming the whole thing, but then I realized my hearing had improved even more than it had before. I sat up and looked around not yet returned. I over-heared him downstairs:

"...won't be home until Wednesday night. I'm worried, now... I don't know if Malikai is after her... And she's going through these changes. That could make things even more dangerous for her. Not to mention, NOW I worry about her turning..."

I zoned out of the rest of the conversation, and listened to another voice that I happened to hear.

"...not here to ambush us. You're being really stuck-up. Scottie isn't even a complete wolf yet. The instinct to hate vampires hasn't even set in for her yet. So if we befriend her, she'll be so used to us being her companions, she won't view us as enemies. But the point is that we have to befriend her from the beginning. If we shun her, she'll become a threat. You don't want THAT, do you?..."

I realized that it was Alice. Did she really want to be "friends" or was she just pretending to so that I wouldn't grow to learn to hate vampires and then attempt to kill them? I began to feel guilty, and the feeling sank to my stomach. I rested my elbows on my knees, and my chin in my hands. Once again, I wondered how big of a mistake I had made. But at the same time, I didn't regret anything. I had built a strong bond with Edward without even meaning to. I thought that maybe he had that effect on everyone. Regardless, what would Raab think when he found out? Then, it hit me:

Raab hadn't been trying to warn me about the _Cullens_...

"But there are enemies in Forks. Ones that you and I understand about..."

_That's it!_ I thought. _He was talking about Malikai!_

I wondered if Raab even knew about the Cullens. Then I became a little less enthusiastic. He said enemies. Plural. Was he including the Cullens in that, too? I hoped not. I turned from my personal thoughts to another conversation I heard.

"...can't have it. It drives him crazy."

"Not only that but it's dangerous."

"Well, think about it. In a way, it's not. Look at the progress he's already made."

"...True, true..."

"I think it's a great idea. Think of the possibilities."

"Once again, true."

"I talked to Rosalie a minute ago. She's actually gonna make an effort to be nice to Scottie."

"That's good. What'd you bribe her with?"

"Nothing!... So... I'll talk to Edward later. He's going back upstairs to check on her again. Last time he went up there, she was curled up on the couch with her face smashed in between the cushions."

After thinking on the voices, I figured up that the first voice was Alice, and the second was Emmett.

Edward cracked open the door and peeked in. I looked up at him.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"No. It was more the result of extreme agonizing pain."

"Oh... Well, how long have you been awake?"

"About 10 minutes. How long had I been asleep?"

"About 15 minutes. What happened?"

"My ears... they upgraded, I guess we could call it. That has to be the fastest yet most painful one yet."

"So... your sense of smell, sight, and hearing has upgraded. I wonder how your sense of taste and touch improves."

"I bet my tongue falls off and my skin melts." I raised and eyebrow.

Edward laughed and said, "I hope not!"

"What if it did?"

"...I'd put you in the freezer to stop your skin from melting, and...I'd let you live without your tongue; less for me to listen to."

"Hey!"

He laughed again, then shook his head. He sighed, then said, "Well... I need to talk to you."

"Okay... What did I do this time?"

"Nothing... I'm just worried about you... Scottie, I don't want you to go home yet. It's not safe. Malikai could be watching you, and it he were to attack you, I wouldn't be able to get to you in time. Then I... I don't know what I'd do."

"So... what are you saying?"

"I want you to stay here."

"_What?_" I was shocked.

"Yeah. You'll be safe here.

"Well, yeah, no doubt. But... _here?_"

"Would you rather I stay with you?" He offered.

"Well, I..." I thought about it. "Yes, actually."

"I was just kidding, but..."

"No, really. There's this cot I could pull out. It doesn't sound very comfortable but I can fix it up so-"

"That won't be necessary; I can't sleep."

"Oh... vampire thing...?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... still..."

"If you'd feel more comfortable in your own home, I guess we could do that..."

"I would... I mean, don't get me wrong - I don't have anything against you guys. I just..."

"You don't have to explain. I understand."

"Do you?"

He smiled. "Do you even have to ask?"

I didn't; I knew he could understand from reading my mind.

"I just don't want anyone to think I don't like them because, I really do. I-"

"It's okay. They understand. Wait here; I'll be right back." He left the room again.

Even though he told me not to worry about it, I still felt kind of guilty. I was afraid that they would think that I had something against them, which I didn't. I loved Alice to death. How could I not? She was so considerate. And Jasper was incredibly nice, too... even though he didn't say much. Emmett was like a giant loving-yet-frightening stuffed teddybear. You'd look at him and be scared just by his size; you'd never figure he was just a big sweetie. Esme and Carlisle were very optimistic and gracious. Their posititude seemed to radiate when you were in the same room with them. And as for Rosalie... I guessed she would never come around... But I had heard Alice say that she was going to try. I hoped that the idea of trusting me would grow on her.

Part of the reason I didn't want to stay with Edward was because I worried about Rosalie slaughtering me in my sleep. I cringed at the thought of her spilling my blood all over the place... If Jasper couldn't stand my nose bleed, how would he react to that? Then what would he do? Would he feel guilty? I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I wasn't sure if I trusted Rosalie with NOT killing me.

Edward re-entered the room.

"Are you ready?"

"Sure..." I stood and followed him out of the room. When we got downstairs, Esme and Carlisle were in the parlor. The stood and approached us, both smiling warmly.

"How are you feeling?" Carlisle asked.

"Much better. Thank you very much."

"You're quite welcome."

"Scottie, you are welcome here anytime." Esme smiled.

"Thank you. I really do appreciate all you've done..."

"It's not a problem."

Alice, Jasper, and Emmett came down the stairs as Esme and Carlisle returned to the parlor.

Alice hugged me and said, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Me, too."

Emmett hugged me as well, causing my bones to pop. You think bear hugs hurt? Try a vampire hug.

Jasper smiled and said, "We'll see you tomorrow."

I remembered that it was Sunday. We had school Monday (that's me, stating the obvious).

As Edward and I started out the door, Rosalie decended the stairs and approached me. At first I was scared; I thought she had come to kill me. I held my bed as she approached, then she stuck out her hand.

"We haven't been formally introduced. I'm Rosalie Hale." She didn't seem too thrilled.

"I'm Scottie Evans." I tentatively shook her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You, as well."

"Well. Scottie and I need to get going; it's getting late." Edward said.

We said goodbye a final time, then departed.

_**Atreyu - The Crimson: "I feel it welling up inside, and Robert Smith lied; boys do cry. And with blood tears in my eyes I'm an Anne Rice novel come to life. I can't hide the monster anymore. Once can only feel desolate for so long until one starts to change into something the mirror doesn't recognize. I metamorphosize. The darkness has been biding it's time to claim it's latest victim."**_


	10. Home

Yay! I like the song log thing. I know, I'm a geek. WHATEVER. And yeah, I like screamo bands. So ANYWAY. Chapter 9 sucked, I know... Sorry guys. I had my braces tightened and I was (and still am) in agonizing pain, so my mom gave me something for the pain... and it's kinda made me lightheaded. It's hard to focus on anything but the little pink bunny sporting a cupcake with green icing as a head... I want the cherry on top... O.o Uhhhh... Long live King Barney the Dinosaur! Uh... On with the show! . this is going to be a short chapter, cause I'm falling asleep and I don't want to electrocute myself by drooling on the keyboard. O.o

_**Atreyu - Demonology and Heartache: "Am I being too cryptic? Am I being too obscure? Love kills, romance is dead and I don't even trust myself, but I love you. And you can pull my wings apart and pin me under glass until the end of days if it can help you discover that we share the same pain. I just hope you write your thesis before your subject is dead. No life after death."**_

_Chapter Ten-- Home_

Edward drove us to my house in his Volvo. When we got home, the first thing I did was walk to the fridge. I looked around the shelf, then in the crisper to see the last green apple. I started to reach for it, then a sudden image of a Satanistic apple popped into my head, and I immediately changed my mind.

"Ehh..." I shut the fridge and then went to my room. "Edward, I feel bad about this. If you can't sleep, what are you going to do while _I _sleep? I mean, surely you get bored."

"Not really. I'll probably just sit in here with you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. If that's alright with you."

"It's fine... I have to go get a shower, then I'll be back."

"Alright."

I grabbed my clothes and went to the shower. When I finished, I brushed my teeth and shoo some of the water from my black hair. I entered my room to find Edward sitting at the foot of my bed.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

He looked up and said, "Yes, I'm fine."

I walked over to him. He couldn't hide it from me; I could tell he was upset about something.

"Liar." I stood in front of him. His eyes were black.

He smiled. "Maybe just a little."

"What ails you, my friend?" I smiled back.

"I think... It would be safer for us both if I went and fed... but I don't want to leave you here alone..."

"Then I guess you better hurry. There are woods out back." I didn't want a hungry vampire around, no matter who it was. I knew what they were capable of, and I didn't want to risk anything... And I knew he felt the same way.

"...Will you be alright?"

"Yes. You won't be far."

He stood up. "I'll be back soon." He hugged me and then left my room.

I smiled after him, thinking about how special he had become to me in just five days. There was just something about him that I didn't understand. Something that attracted me to him, something that made him special. And there was something else that I didn't understand as I got into bed and pulled the covers up under my arms: Out of all the girls in the school, why had he chosen me to befriend? After I thought about it, it became clear. I had been some random werewolf to show up in his territory, and he was afraid I was only there to ambush him, then when he found out I WASN'T there to harm them, he apologized and wanted to make it up to me. He began to see me less as a threat and more as an opportunity. He befriended me to keep my instinct of hating vampires from blossoming, and became more as a friend. So it had all started out as a method of protection for him and his family. But we had become so close so fast... And if it was only an act of defense, what was it now? And what would it be later? I hated to think that he really had no opinion on our friendship, and that I was only a tool of defense to he and his family. Something told me that it wasn't true, and we really were friends. There was so much I didn't understand about Edward and his family... I wanted to know more. Sometimes I wished I were a mind reader, too.

Edward had such a captivating personality, and once I began to know him a little better, I learned that he was just as kind as he seemed. I wasn't sure how he'd managed to just suck me right in, but he had. To a certain point, I was glad, but at the same time, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I still didn't know if it was okay to be associated with him, or if it was simply too dangerous. And what would Raab say when I told him? Would he be angry? Would he make me choose between him and the Cullens? I hoped not...

I must have lied there for an hour, thinking about Edward when he finally opened the door.

"Scottie, are you awake?"

"No, I'm asleep."

He laughed quietly and then sat next to me on the bed. I rolled over and looked up at him.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Much better. I thought it would have taken longer, but I was only gone about 30 to 45 minutes."

I wondered if he had been listening to my thoughts as he hunted. I knew he was listening at that very moment; I could feel it.

_You're in my mind bubble._

"Yep." He confirmed. "It's fun to listen to your thoughts. There are so many random things you think about... Like Satanistic apples, and other non-sense." He smiled and touched my forehead.

"Like what?" I challenged.

"The fact that you think I may be using you. I'm not. And, you also think that this is all just a scam, and my family and I are out to get you. We're not. And yes, I do view you as a friend - my best friend, as a matter of fact. You're not a tool of defense, and you're just as captivating to me as I am to you." He answered.

"Wow. You WERE listening."

"It's hard not to when I hear my name every other sentence. And I wasn't far, so of course I could hear."

"Ugh... You cheat."

"Do not. I can't help it."

"Uh huh. Cheater."

"Shut up and go to sleep." He pulled the covers over my head.

"Now you're trying to suffocate me?"

"No. If I were, I'd use my bare hands."

I pulled the covers back down and said, "Scary..."

"Yeah..."

"...I really am tired. So, before I fall asleep, are you going to be okay?"

"Yes. I'll be fine."

I rolled back over with my back facing him and curled up. He sat next to me for the rest of the night.

_**Atreyu - The Crimson: "And it pulses through. The desire to change, to deconstruct all of my past failings. But where to begin? Because when you live in sin it's hard to look at saints without them reflecting your jet black aura back on you. And all I have is hope. My inner burn's not fading. I'll wipe the blood from my cheek and get on with my day."**_


	11. Raab Hurley

Wah-hoo. This is fun, no? Now we've got crazy things happening to the crazy person who has crazy people out to get the crazy person. Uhhh... . Owowow... Sorry, that's me being weird. Anyway, for those of you who haven't noticed, I write about 6 chapters at a time, then put them online. I know it may be a hassle for you guys, but it works best for me, so... yeah. Sorry about that. James Bond is (as you guessed) not mine.

_**Comback Kid - Broadcasting...: "A common threat sits in our house. They keep on warning me, but I'm not always listening. And yesterday I heard the news of fire at my doorstep, but this morning they're just disputing semantics."**_

_Chapter Eleven-- Raab Hurley_

Edward awoke me the next morning, saying something about school. I turned over and ignored him.

"Must I drag you?" He offered.

"Nnnnn..." I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. "Go away..."

He pulled the covers off of me and took my hand, pulling me into an upright position. I looked at him with one eye closed as I inced at the light. I huffed and looked around, annoyed. School? Who needs school? All I wanted was another hour of sleep. Mondays suck. I continued to sit there as Edward left the room. I plopped back down onto my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping it would snow hard enough to cancel school for the morning... or day... or week...

Or month.

I fell onto the floor, flat on my face. I looked up to see Edward with my pillow.

"Thanks a lot; now I feel great." I jerked it out of his hand and laid on the floor.

"Scottie, we have to leave in five minutes." He glanced at the clock on my stereo.

"_Fine_." I stood up and threw my pillow at him. I stalked over to my closet and grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a bright green shirt. It suited my mood for the day. Not the color, the text:

i could listen to you...

but i'd rather be jumping rope

_**with barbed-wire**_.

I got dressed in the bathroom and then walked out. The area surrounding my eyes made me look as though I'd had a hangover ALL weekend. I wondered what everyone would say when they noticed... or if they even WOULD notice.

Then I decided I didn't care. All I wanted was another hour of sleep.

Edward looked at me and shook his head.

"Now I know what to get you for your birthday."

"I don't want anything for my birthday. All I want is another hour of sleep." We walked downstairs. I went to the fridge and looked in the crisper. The only thing in it was the Satanistic green apple. I decided to pass on breakfast that morning.

School ended up being more annoying than I thought. I was very irritable, and everyone just kept pushing their luck. Let's take senior Mitch White for example. This guy thinks he's really hot-stuff. In my opinion, he's a freak of nature. He's nearly seven feet tall and has hair so blonde it's white, yet he's dark-complected. And people call ME strange? I think **not.** So, anyway, this guy decides to corner me outside of the cafeteria Monday...

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mitch. Mitch White." He said to me. Typical James Bond introduction... sort of.

"I know who you are..." I was annoyed, and this guy was wasting my time.

"Oh, okay. So... I'm having this party-"

"I'm not interested." I tried to get past him, but he stood in front of me.

"Just hear me out, Scot. This party is gonna be at my house, and I-"

"No, **you** hear **me** out, _Mitch_." I pushed him away from me. "I said, I'm not interested." I started walking away.

"Well," He was clearly angry. "If you're not even gonna give it a chance, then fine. Be a bitch."

Before I had the chance to think about what the consequences of my actions could be, I turned and started storming back towards him. Just when I got close enough to hit him, Someone grabbed me by the waist and pulled my by their side.

"Are you having a problem with Miss Evans, Mitch?"

I looked up to see Edward, who was smirking, flanked by Emmett.

"Yeah, actually. Not that you'd understand, considering you and your family are the social pariahs of Forks. You just wouldn't be able to comprehend it. So shut your mouth, Cullen." Mitch stepped toward us.

"Why don't you go sit in a corner and chew below, asshole!" I jerked away from Edward and stepped towards Mitch.

"Wow, you really are a bi-"

I jumped at him, causing him to flinch ans shield himself. Lucky for him, Edward caught me in mid-air.

"Nuh uh! NO! Put me down! EDWARD!!" Edward started back towards the lunchroom, dragging me with him as I screamed, "Take me back, Edward! NO!" I pointed at Mitch. "You'd better consider yourself lucky, you coward! If a little jump made you flinch, just imagine what else I'm capable of! You just try and mess with me again, pal, and I'll have you screaming and crying for your mommy and daddy! I MAKE MARYLN MANSON LOOK LIKE MARTHA STEWART!!"

By the time we reached the cafeteria, I was being dragged along behind Edward and Emmett.

"I hate these people. I hate these people. I hate these stupid, pathetic people..._ Edward..."_ I whined. "WHY?" He sat me down at the table in the corner, where we'd been sitting. Emmett sat next to Edward, who was next to me.

"Why what?"

"I was going to kill him...Why'd you take me away?"

He shook his head.

So, for the most part, the rest of that day, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all the same. We spent Monday and Tuesday evening fixing the broken windows at my house. I wasn't sure how I'd explain to Vivian how they shattered. Emmett even came over and helped out, then left. Jasper was going to come help, too, but he wasn't feeling well... I guessed it was a vampire thing. Wednesday afternoon, however, things became more interesting...

Edward and I were sitting in my room after school Wednesday, when he suddenly became very quiet.

"What? What is it?" I asked, but he continued watching the door.

I sniffed the air, and caught the scent of a friend. I jumped up and hissed, "RAAB!!"

Edward snorted and stood up, crossing to the other side of the room. I realized I might have offended him. I turned back to him and hugged his waist, then poked his shoulder.

"Edward... I haven't seen him in a long time, and he might have something important to say."

"Hmm."

"Edward?"

"Hm?"

"Is that all you can say to me?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Gah..." I crossed to the door. "Look, I'm really sorry, but why do you get all bent out of shape when I mention Raab, but you don't show the same attitude to me? I'm a wolf, too, Edward..."

"It's different..." He answered quietly.

I heard Raab ascending the stairs. I said to Edward, "We can talk about this later... If it makes you feel any better, I'll go downstairs and keep him there. You're welcome to listen. Anything he can't say to you, he can't say to me... And vice-versa." I left the room, shutting the door behind me. I felt bad, but this was very important to me. I saw Raab look up as I left my room. He was a very attractive guy; He had flaming light blue eyes with slightly dark circles under them, straight dark brown hair, and appeared to be in his early twenties... although he was about in his one hundred twenties.

"Raab!"

He smiled. "Hello, lovely." His smile sort of faded. "Scottie... is there a vampire in this house, or does my nose deceive me?"

"No-but he's no harm to me."

"I know; I've been watching you and Edward Cullen."

I looked at him in disbelief. "How'd you-"

"No time. I have to hurry." We descended to the living room. "I have much to tell you and little time to do it. So here we go. First off, your senses. You've enhanced as far as smell, sight, and hearing. That's all. No more enhancing. Second, Malikai is here, in Forks, as you know. I'm sorry I couldn't be here, but I was very busy. I'm sure the Cullens are assisting you. Third, you are not to attempt your transformation until next Saturday. That's when you'll be ready. If you do wish to attempt it, just for practice, go out into the woods where no one can see you. Carry extra clothes, and concentrate on the transformation, remain calm, and do everything slowly and precisely, or you'll kill yourself. Don't expect it to be simple - the first few times, it's very painful. Understand? Good. Fourth, trust no one. I mean this, Scottie. Associating with the Cullens was stupid enough. I cannot believe you even... nevermind, what's done is done, and if they planned on harming you they would have done so. Anyway... I have to be going. Keep my advice close..." Raab kissed my forehead. "Goodbye, lovely." And without another word, he left.

I stood there for a minute, slightly dazed.

_That was fast._

Raab and I had this brother-sister relationship. And I wasn't sure if Edward understood; I could sense he was fuming upstairs. I walked back upstairs, and he turned and looked at me from the window.

"Sorry..." I said.

"For what? He's a friend."

"Well, I thought you were-"

"Angry? No. Aggitated? Maybe slightly. Jealous? Just a little."

"Wow. Uh, okay..."

"Now you smell like him..." He glanced at my forehead.

"What do you mean?"

"He's got a very... strong scent... and it's rubbed off on you."

"Oh...sorry..."

"It's fine; I'll cope with it... for now." He narrowed his eyes.

"_Oh, no. I'm scared."_

"Good."

I rolled my eyes at him.

_**Comeback Kid - One Left Satisfied: "Still craving. Not yet satisfied. What will it take? How long will this take? Still craving. Not yet satisfied. Still hungry."**_


	12. Boy Hits Car

Okay, so I confess it now:I. Hate. Vampires. They suck. The only reason I read Twilight was because I got sick of my friends telling me to, and that it was a good book. So I thought, "Well, how good could it be?" And actually, it was a good book (overall). But you know, it could've been better if she killed Edward. The only reason I read New Moon was because I was hoping she'd kill Edward. But, nope. Another letdown. Oh well. The only reason I plan to read the next two books is because I'm still hoping she'll kill Edward (probably not, but hey. I can still hope). And the only reason I want to read the one from Edward's POV is because I wanna know wtf he was thinking when he decided he loved Bella. She is a disgrace to everything I have ever worked towards to prove that we women are better than men. Then Bella Swan comes along. Thanks. Screw you, too. Haha. So I started writing this story just so I could insert drumroll (you'll never guess it)... KILL EDWARD CULLEN!!!!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! But, it's not working so far. boooo! Anyway... Chapter 12. Zowie.

Oh, this is a long song quote thingy. But it's cool. By the way, does anyone know (just wondering) where I got the "one-eight-seven" thing? it's cool... I'll give you a hint: SENSES FAIL.

NOTE: SHORT CHAPTER sorry!! No time to write.

_**Comeback Kid - Hailing On Me: "...suspicion leaked when they called. Hail on my head if I tell. But maybe I can fix this quick. I'll cover up while it's getting closer to me. But I can't gauge how much to hide. PANICKING! Underestimate the risk. Overconfidence. This time I hit and missed. Over confidence. It all depends on the delivery. It's all coming my way and I'm just hoping to survive. I'll have them know I'll give them something to hold on to. They'll never make me scrape, scrape from the bottom of this deep hole. My hands are trembling... My body... is shivering."**_

_Chapter Twelve--Boy Hits Car_

I got a call from Vivian Wednesday night. She wound up having to stay in California for another week. Her boss called and said something about a press conference that she also needed to fill in for. She apologized, asked if I were okay, asked if I needed anything, whined about her day, and apologized some more. I told her it was fine, and that everything was okay, then she had to go. I kind of enjoyed not having her around the house... everything was quieter.

The last two days of the school week went better than I had expected. Everyone seemed to finally get the point that I didn't want to be bothered. Jess was an exception, however. She seemed to be so considerate of everything going on in my life. I felt as though I could tell her anything, and she was (in my opinion) the most trustworthy girl in the school, along side Alice Cullen. I planned to invite her over on weekend when I "wasn't so busy", which seemed to excite her. However, Friday... that was the best day I'd had in a very long time.

I had no choice but to allow Edward to drive me home that afternoon. He secretly stole my keys and was in the driver's seat before I could object. As it turns out, there were many secret things he had going on that I didn't know about. Alice had been bringing him clean clothes, because he refused to leave me at home alone. He and the rest of his family had something planned for my birthday... and Edward said he also had something personal planned... which scared me.

"Scares you? It scares you?" He asked.

"Yes. I've come to expect scary things from you, Edward Cullen."

"Ha. Right."

"So what is it?"

"Can't say."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"Why did you say so?"

"Because I did."

"But WHY?!"

"Ugh, Scottie!" He laughed.

Needless to say, I got no more out of him on that subject, so I left it alone.

So, anyway. Back to Friday. The most awesome day in a very long time. He hopped into the driver's seat and cranked the car. He looked in the rear-view mirror and smirked, then looked at me.

"Well, I could give you an early birthday present now..."

"No, it's okay. Don't do ANYTHING for my birthday."

"But you'll love this."

"I'm sure, but still. It's okay."

"Oh, come on."

"Edward, I was just harrassing you earlier, about my birthday. I don't want anything."

"Too bad, you're gonna get it." He began slowly backing out of the parking space, then I heard a loud bang. I turned in my seat to see Mitch White lying on the ground. Edward and I got out of the car. I tried to surpress my laughter as Edward said, "Geez, Mitch! What the hell is your problem? If you'd watch where you're walking, you wouldn't have to worry about walking into cars pulling out of parking spaces! God, what a moron!" He got back in the car. I laughed my head off as he stood up, looking at the car, and then to his buddies, who were also laughing. I followed suit and got into the car, then hugged Edward.

"That was the most awesome birthday present ever!!"

He smiled and hugged me back, then said, "I know."

He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the house.

_**Comeback Kid - The Blackstone: "You always spoke of it, and that's exactly what this is. But you're in store for it soon, dear. So savor what you've got, while you've got it."**_


	13. The Departed

Sorry about the last chapter being so short. I was in a hurry and had a tad bit of writer's block. O.o UGH! Anyway... I'm having trouble deciding if I really want to kill Edward, or if I want to kill Scottie... or neither...So... I apologize for the delay, because I am trying to sort things out. Oh, and for those of you who don't get the "one-eight-seven" thing, it's a song by Senses Fail, on their "From the Depths of Dreams" CD. One-Eight-Seven is the chapter in the California Penal Code for homicide. (still don't get it? look it up on Wikipedia.) Oh, and you know (or maybe you don't) Alex Varkatzas, the screamer for Atreyu? Well, his real full name is Ektor Alexander Varkatzas. THAT'S cool.

_**Senses Fail - Skydiving Without a Parachute: "I had a dream last night, and in my dream I took a knife to you. I slit your throat from ear to ear. The wound was gasping for the air, your screams so clear. But every dream could never come true. Only in my sick mind can I do these things to you. Every passing moment, it just keeps getting worse. The walls are getting smaller, and I am six feet beneath the earth. I had a dream last night and in my dream I robbed a country club. A five-year-old tried to stop me but I shot him through the head... and now he's dead."**_

_Chapter Thirteen-- The Departed_

Edward drove me back home, and accompanied me to my room. I slug my book bag next to the computer desk and plopped down on my bed. I sighed, then flipped over onto my back.

"Scottie, I'm going to have to leave for a while."

"Oh, yeah? What's going on?"

"It's... well..."

"Vampire stuff."

"Yeah."

"It's fine." I said to him.

"I just worry about Malikai showing up..."

"Ehh... Don't worry about it. If he wanted to kill me, he would be causing chaos all over the place."

"That's partly true... He may just be taking his time... I don't know his strategy..."

"Look, Edward, it's fine. Just go and do what ever it is you have to do, and I'll see you when you come back."

There was a pause.

"Edward? You _are _coming back, right?"

"Of course. It's only temporary." He appeared worried.

"Why are worrying so much?"

"Because you could easily be killed, and I would never forgive myself." He snapped.

"Edward... I promise you, I will be fine. Besides, Raab is in town, and he is watching for Malikai. If anyone can protect me from him besides you, it's Raab Hurley. You can't just center your entire life around me, no matter how good of friends we become. I mean, we're both going to live for God knows how long, and we can see each other when ever we want. We both know there is going to come a time wen we leave each other, and we may not even see one another for many, many years. If we become so attached that we can't bare to be apart from the other, then we're screwed. Neither one of us will be able to do anything alone. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes. But the status of our friendship will not protect you from a maniacal vampire who will stop at nothing to kill you." He was clearly agitated. I wished he'd just chill out and not be so protective.

"Edward... if you have to leave, then you have to leave. It's like you said; it's only temporary. Who is going with you?"

"Everyone... Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme. That's part of what worries me. If your... friend, Raab, is no where around, and we're all gone, who is going to be here to save you? There is no way we could make it home in time."

"I'm not completely helpless, Edward."

"I understand that. But is it such a bad thing that I care enough about you to worry?"

"Well, not that I'm being ungrateful, but out of all the people in Forks, you pick a werewolf to be your best friend? That's not exactly vampire-ish, if you know what I mean."

"I know, but that's not the point, Scottie. Does it matter that it's you? I explained this to you before."

"Please, elaborate once more." I sat up.

"At first, we were pissed off because we knew you were a werewolf-to-be, and we thought we were sent here to wreak havoc. Well, we saw that you weren't even a fully transformed wolf yet, so we thought we'd put ourselves around you as much as possible so that your vampire-hating instincts wouldn't come into effect. If they did, we'd all be screwed because there is no way in hell a werewolf can fight a vampire without things being absolutely obvious that we aren't human. And who wants that? Not us. So we took the chance, and I just happened to look past that beast inside of you, to your heart. I monitored your thoughts, your patterns, your every nightmare. I knew you were turned against your will, and thus, you didn't care about murdering humans or picking fights with vampires. I understand exactly how you feel, and I felt pity and sympathy at first, until I realized you didn't care for anyone's sympathy. You just want to live your life and keep on moving, so I accepted you. My family accepted you. And I wanted to get to know you a bit more, so here we are today. Elaborate enough for you?"

"Well, I guess so. Look, I'm not trying to offend you, but are you telling me the truth when you say that you're not using me? Because if you're just trying to manipulate me so I'll be who you want me to be, then we're going to have some serious problems."

"I'm not offended, even though I told you before, I'm NOT using you, and neither is my family. So it's about time that you just rule that out of your mind. I swear to you, on everything I am, you're not being used. You mean far to much to me."

I sighed, feeling exhausted. "You mean a lot to me, too, Edward. But having a friendship means you have to be able to trust each other. Which means you should trust me when I say I will be fine."

He was silent. Then at last he said, "Alright. But if anything happens, I get the right to throw it back in your face, considering you're not dead before I get to you."

"Deal." I stood up. "Now, do you need me to give you a ride home?"

"No, it's alright. I'd rather you stay here. It'll be safer."

"There you go again."

"I'm sorry, but let's not get into this again. I'll just walk home, okay? It'll be fine."

We walked downstairs and stopped at the door.

"When will Vivian be home?" He asked.

"Next Wednesday. She's been asked to fill in for the press conference, too."

"Great..." He said sarcastically.

"Edward... do you have an estimate of when you will be back?"

"...A week at the least."

I groaned. "Are you serious? Why are you leaving, anyway?"

"We have sunny weather moving in..."

"So?"

"We can't go out in the sun... So we're telling everyone that Carlisle has to go to a doctor's thing somewhere south of here, and that we're all going. So... yeah..."

"What's the big deal with the sunny weather? Are you gonna melt or something?"

"_No._ I... well, I can't really explain it... It's something you have to see."

I looked at him. What could it possibly be?

The two of us were silent for a moment until he said, "Well... I guess it's time for me to go."

"I guess so..." What in the world was I going to do without him? Boredom would set in soon, and without Edward there with me, there was simply nothing left to do. I fumed privately, regretting that he was a vampire.

"It's only temporary, Scot..." He pulled me into a hug. His cool skin felt good against mine; I could feel my body temperature dropping.

"I know."

"You're not scared, are you?"

"ME?" I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. "Scared? Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?"

He smiled. "I'll take that as a no."

"Good choice."

"Well... I'll come and see you as soon as I get home, okay?"

"Alright..." I hugged his waist, and then he made his departure.

I never realized how much of an attachment we had formed. Saturday was bound to be hell without him. I woke up that morning, feeling bored, even though my day had yet to even begin. I sat up in my bed, looking around. The entire house was silent. No stereo, no television, no Vivian...

No Edward...

I sighed, feeling alone. The thought of me lying on a shrink couch, explaining to some over-friendly, seemingly gay guy my problems, popped into my head. I shuddered. I couldn't imagine anyone putting me through even one session of psychiatric care… Then I'd REALLY need a shrink. Then again, I thought I may need one before Edward came back. I hadn't even been awake an hour and I was already getting depressed. I decided to diagnose myself.

Edward Deprivation.

I sighed and rolled out of the bed, then walked downstairs. For most of the day, I just moped around the house. I finally decided to bring my CD's into the living room. I put a few of my CD's into the 6-disc changer stereo and turned on the surround sound. Within moments, I could hear my Senses Fail: Still Searching CD through the entire house. I sat on the couch, in between two of the surround sound speakers and closed my eyes. Around 1:00 PM, I finally came up with an idea.

_I should call Jess. Maybe if she's not busy she can come over._

I picked up the phone and dialed her number, hoping she would answer and say she wasn't busy.

"Hello?"

"Umm, hey. Jess?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Hey, this is Scottie."

"OH, hey! How are you??"

"I'm… bored, actually…"

"Oh… sorry."

"It's fine. Uh, do you have plans for the weekend?"

"Nope. I'm just sitting around. My parents are out of town for the weekend. Mom went to see my grandma; she's sick. And my dad is at a business meeting in Arizona. So, I figured I stay home… It was the only good choice…" She laughed.

"Cool. Vivian – my mom – she's not going to be back until next Wednesday. She got called to fill in for some lady who got pneumonia and couldn't do a presentation, and now she's been asked to go to a press conference. Rather than coming home, she's just going to go get a hotel room, attend the conference, and then fly back home. And I'm pretty much just moping around, which brings us to why I called… I wanted to know if you were busy, and if not, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over and spend the weekend, and you can ride with me to school Monday, and then I'll take you home. I just think it'd be a good way for us to get to hang out, you know, get to know each other a little better…"

"Oh, wow. That sounds like fun. Sure, there's just one problem; I don't know where you live."

"I can come pick you up." I jumped up and grabbed a pen and a note pad from the junk drawer in the kitchen. "What's your address?" I scribbled it down as she wrote and gave me directions.

376 Northward Street

Go into town, turn left at stop light, keep going,

Stop at Westbound Circle, go straight, turn onto dead end road

Jess' House is last on right (small and brick)

"Okay, I got it."'

"You're sure?"  
"Absolutely."

"Alright. I'll grab a bag of clothes and my book bag for Monday."

"Okay, be there soon." I hung up the phone and started for the door, then realized I was still in my Linkin Park shirt and The Used shorts. I turned back to the stairs, then shrugged and grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

_**Senses Fail: One Eight Seven – "It's so nice, sitting very still in a room where no one else can feel the pain that breaks my heart each day. I'm not okay. Sunlight shining through my window lets me know that I'm still alive. Why did I ever let you inside my heart? I'm such a fool. Paint my face in shades of blood and grey and take the seat right next to me. But I should have known that you were a killer, but now I'm dead. A gaping hole shot through my heart, a lost connection from your poison dart. Shot from your tongue to end my life, but if you're blowing at the fire to light your strife, you'll never know the hardest thing about dying is knowing you'll never see the light of day. A gaping hole shot through my heart. A lost connection from your poison dart. My head now spins and my ears bleed gold. I try so fing hard, but I can't fit your mold. The hardest thing about dying is knowing you'll never see the light of day. You ripped my heart out, you tore my eyes, now you're gonna pay. I'll stab you one time, I'll eat your heart out so you'll feel my pain. Don't you know that I always see you in all of my dreams? I wanna kill you, I wanna kill you, but now I'm insane."**_

_**this is my favorite song by Senses Fail. I tried to type just a simple verse, but… things got a LITTLE out of control. HAPPYFACE.**_


	14. Chapter 14

Yay. Edward is gone! Just kidding… (about the "yay" thing). Nah… Edward is kinda cool, I guess… I just don't like vampires… They're freaky. I'm more of a werewolf person (duh). Anyway… Something occurred to me a long while back. The name of the story is AWAITING WINTER. In the story, it IS winter (remember the snow in the beginning? Yeah, it's still there. And snow usually means winter). So, there may be some people wondering why the name of the story is AWAITING WINTER if, one, it already IS winter, and two, nothing has been mentioned about the significance of winter to the werewolves (or anyone, for that matter). So, for those of you wondering about that, I'll give you a hint: Pay attention to Raab. He is a rather minor character, but he holds many secrets. O.o

_**Senses Fail – Sick or Sane (Fifty for a Twenty): "And the white coats just don't get it. I'm a genius with a headache. Am I a little sick or a little sane? Cause I feel a little sick."**_

_Chapter Fourteen—The Return_

When I pulled up in Jess' driveway, she hadn't come out yet, so I decided to leave the car running while I knocked on her door. She came to the door and signaled for me to enter. She was holding a telephone to her ear. I listened carefully, and judging by the conversation, it must've been her mother. She hung up and said, "I was just calling Mom to let her know where I'm going to be."

"Okay. So she knows I'm taking you to school and everything?"

"Yeah." She paused, looking at my attire.

"Don't even ask." I said. "I didn't feel like changing."

She laughed and grabbed a duffle bag and her book bag. I led her out to my car and opened the passenger side door.

"Here, just throw your stuff in the back."

She tossed her bags in and I slid the seat back.

"Wow… Nice car…"

"Birthday gift from Vivian."

"Vivian?"

"Oh. That's my mom."

"Ahh." She got in as I went around and got in. On the way back home we mostly talked about things going on in school… until she brought up the subject of Edward Cullen.

"So, what _is _going on between you and Edward?"

"Uhh, nothing if you're thinking…"

"I'm thinking anything."

"Oh. Well, nothing like _that_. We're just friends. Strictly."

"Strictly?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… Well, what do you think about him?"

"I just said strictly!"

She laughed. "I know! That's just describing what you think the relationship is. I'm asking what you'd LIKE for it to be."

"What is THAT supposed to mean?!"

"It means, I think you have more in store for the relationship than you're letting on." She smirked.

"Oh, please."

"Come ON, Scottie! He's REALLY good looking and it's like you might as well not even care!"

"I don't."

"Any girl would DIE to be you right now!"

"If they died to be me, then what would be the point?"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"Scottie! You are turning down the chance to be with a cute, reasonable guy! A cute, reasonable guy that every girl in the school is dying to have and every guy wants to be him, just because he's all the girls talk about!"

"I'm not turning him down because he hasn't even confronted me about taking the relationsh – FRIENDSHIP –" I corrected. "- further!"

"But the question is, do you want it to go further?"

"…No." It took me a minute to think about it.

"Do you think Ryan likes you?"

"Yes."

"What about Mitch?"

"Yes."

"You hate Vivian don't you?"

"Yes." I began to zone out.

"Do you regret moving to Forks?"

"No."

"Have you heard from your dad?"

"No."

"Do you want to?"

"No."

"Do you like Edward?"

"Yes."

"And you want the friendship to go further?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

"HA! You ADMIT it!" She yelped.  
Her sudden outburst startled me, and I jerked the wheel by accident.

"Admit WHAT?!" I glanced at her, and then back at the road.

"You just admitted to liking Edward Cullen!"

"What?! I – I WHAT?!" I pulled into the driveway, shut the car off, and got out. I went around to help Jess get her bags.

"You just said to me that you want you friendship with Edward Cullen to go further – to a relationship!!"

"I did not!"

"Uh, YES YOU DID!"

"Did I really?" I couldn't believe it. "No, I must've not been paying attention. I was trying to watch the road and make sure I didn't kill us."

"Well, duh. But you wouldn't have said it if it weren't the truth. You were answering all of the other questions, too!"

We argued all the way to my room (she never once commented on the music that was playing so loudly). She set her bags down and then looked at me.

"Scottie, seriously. I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise. Please, just tell me the truth. I really want to know."

I looked her in the eyes. Her blue eyes were desperate.

"Fine."

"So, you do?"

"_Yes…"_ It really hadn't occurred to me what I was saying. The more I thought about it, I discovered it **was **the truth:I had feelings for Edward Cullen. More than just for friendship. But, I couldn't allow myself to feel that way. He was a _vampire_. It was too dangerous.

Jess sat on the edge of my bed.

"Wow… I don't believe it."

I wasn't really paying attention to her. I was too preoccupied trying to force the thought out of my head. I wasn't sure where exactly Edward had really gone, or even how far his mind-reading span was. For all I knew, he could have been listening, and thus… He would already know what Jess and I had been talking about… And my answer…

At least I didn't have to tell him myself, which was good. I couldn't imagine what he would say if I told him that I – a werewolf – had feelings for him – a vampire. That could be tragic. He may be repulsed, and never want to see me again. Or maybe he'd find it funny and wouldn't care. But at the same time, I didn't want him to know (and I never planned on telling him). I was afraid of what he would think, and (not to mention) his family. Alice may not care, but I wasn't sure how Emmett and Jasper would take it. And even worse, what would Rosalie think? She'd probably plot to kill me in my sleep. I made sure my ring was still on my finger, and then looked at a drawer on my computer desk… The drawer that had super glue in it. I looked from the drawer to my ring, and then back again. Finally I change my mind.

I tried to force the thought out of my mind, but it wasn't working. I just hoped that he didn't know, and couldn't hear. I thought surely he couldn't read my mind THAT far away. But then I remembered that he may not even be very far. I whined.

"Oh, come on, Scottie! It's not a bad thing!"

_For me it is._

"It's actually a good thing. Since you're still pretty much 'the new kid', this is a good way for you to show everyone that you can have whatever you want, and you're not afraid to take it, if you know what I mean.

_Yeah, or every girl would be jealous and hate me, and the guys would be mad that I didn't pick one of them. What am I talking about?! There is NO chance of us getting into a relationship, because I'm not going to tell him, and I'm not going to think about it._

"Scottie? Scottie, are you listening to me?"

"YES, I'm listening."

"If this bothers you, we can talk about something else."

"Yes. Yes, let's do."

The entire weekend was chaos. Every little thing in my house reminded me of Edward, and every time I thought about Edward, I thought about… THAT. When Monday came, everything was STILL chaos. Once again, everything was reminding me of him. I wanted him to come back so much, for the simple fact that I felt practically lost without him. There was nothing to do, no one to talk to (except Jess, who kept winking at me). But at the same time, I didn't want him to come back because A: I was afraid he knew, and B: I was afraid he would find out if he didn't know yet.

By the end of Monday, I was exhausted. I went home and plopped on my bed, feeling both annoyed and tired. Almost as soon as I started to doze off, someone knocked at my bedroom door, and I sat up.

_Is that who I think it is?_

The door opened and Raab walked in.

"Hey!" I jumped to my feet.

"Hello… I only have a minute or two, so I'll make this quick. Have you experienced anything you haven't been able to explain yet?"

"UHH…" Had he not realized that I had experienced a LOT that I couldn't explain? I gave him a look.

"I mean lately."

"No… And if I have, I'm not sure of it."

"I forgot to tell you, I have something to teach you."

"You do?" I walked over to him.

"Yes. If you concentrate hard enough, you should be able to temporarily disguise your scent. Not all werewolves can do this; only a select few."

"And what makes you think _**I **_can do this?"

"Because I CAN, and I'm the one who turned you."

"Well, are you going to teach me, or….?"

"It's not something one can necessarily teach to another, but something one must learn to do on their own with the assistance of another."

"Then assist me." I pressed.  
"You must first try yourself."

"How?!" He wasn't making sense.

"Do as I said. Concentrate on the scent of something near you, and breathe it in. Let the scent in and it will fill you (in a matter of speaking), masking your scent and thus making others oblivious to your presence."

He talked so strange. It made me feel as though he was thousands of years old. Then again… he may actually be thousands of years old.

"That's it?"

"Don't let the simplicity of the explanation fool you. It's more difficult than it seems, and your ability to perform it will grow over time. My advice to you is start practicing now." He looked at my stereo. "I have to be going." He turned to leave.

"Raab, how come every time you come, you're always in a hurry? You always 'have to be going' for some unknown reason. It worries me… You haven't always been like this…"

"There is much going on. For one, I am trying to protect you."

"How so?"

"I don't have time to go into detail. But that's the reason I'm always rushing to get here to check on you and then leave again. It's much to difficult for me to explain at the moment. As I said before, I must be going. I will be back soon. Remember what I said to you; be practicing." He turned and left.

I sighed, feeling lost, as always. I wondered why I was always the one being left out of the plan. Everyone always seemed to know what was being plotted, with the exception of me. I returned to my former state of moping.

_**Senses Fail – Can't Be Saved: "Follow your bliss, it reads on my chest. I know I got it tattooed for a reason. Why can't I just hold it true? Cause I'm still crashing all the funerals of these people that I never knew. I'm stuck in this coma, stuck in this never ending sleep. Someday I will wake up and realize I made up everything. I shut the door and turn all the lights out and listen to all the songs that the night shouts. They go something like this. So, Go fill up a glass with tonic rocks and gin and drink yourself to happiness."**_


	15. Chapter 15

Omigosh… I have had writer's block for the past 30 minutes. I just finished writing chapter 14 and then I was STUCK! … I NEVER GET STUCK!! I'm one of those few people who never get writer's block, and when I do, it's like… The rapture. lol!! So, yah… Anyway…. To me, that last chapter seemed REALLY long… Maybe it wasn't. I'm not sure. Oh, like, up until chapter 12, I had been writing everything on WordPad, because Microsoft Word wouldn't come up. So I messed around with it, and got it to work. Now I'm using MW. I. Am. Brilliant. Yes I am. Mmm-hmmm. So, anyway… On we go.

_**Senses Fail – Shark Attack: "I spent the last year paying a stranger to listen to childhood thoughts about the love I am missing. I'd fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. The hooks were baited up with fear because I wasn't thinking clear. Just save yourself, cause it's too late for me. Laying on the couch, spilling all of my guts out and walking out with nothing but a head full of self doubt. I take back every good thing I ever said cause it was all so meaningless. It didn't help clean up my mess. Now I see you ripped me open."**_

_Chapter Fifteen—Vivian McEvoy_

When Wednesday rolled around, I was feeling better. Not only had I mastered the ability to mask my scent, Vivian would be back by the time I got home from school. To some point, I was excited. I thought that she would have something planned to do because she had been gone for the past two weeks. And sure enough, when I got home, there she was, cooking a huge meal. I threw my bag in my room, then went back downstairs.

"How was your trip?" I asked quietly.

She turned from her cooking and looked at me. I was shocked. I had never seen her so exhausted-looking.

"It was… tiring." She smiled. I never understood how she always seemed to keep right on going, even when she was so tired. No matter what was going on, she always seemed to start and end her day with a smile. I wouldn't be surprised if she smiled in her sleep.

"Oh… I'm sorry." I decided I would try to make an attempt to get along with her. "So… what're you cooking?"

"An early supper." She turned back to her task. "I thought I would be able to have it done before you came home, but… Then I realized I was missing a lot of the stuff I needed. So I had to go ALL the way back to the grocery store. And, as if things couldn't get any worse, there were only two registers open. So, I went to the shorter of the two, only to be stick behind some old lady who was just taking her time. Then, when it was FINALLY my turn, the register broke, or malfunctioned, or whatever they call it. And you know what? They shut it down and sent me ALL the way to the end of the OTHER line! Can you believe that? UNBELIEVABLE. I wanted to throw a fit. I went in there and could have been done in less than 15 minutes and wound up being in there for nearly and hour and a half." She shook her head, and then changed the subject. "Have you seen this green apple in the crisper? It looks as though something evil got a hold of it… Like… Satan or something." She laughed.

I stood there, looking at her, and then shook it off. How weird was THAT? I decided not to tell her about **my** encounter with the Satanistic apple.

"So anyway…" She continued. "How was your day? How's school?"

"Good, and good."

"Did you have enough to eat while I was gone?"

"Yes. PLENTY. You keep this place stocked."

"Well, I try… So. You went to the Cullen's house last Friday…"

JUST when I had finally put Edward out of my mind, she brought him back up. WHY?! Why was I being punished in this manner?!

"Yeah…"

"Mind if I ask why?" She was smiling.

"No… Well, Edward Cullen is in my last three classes… And… I just got to know him, and he wanted me to come over and hang out. The day before that, his mom and dad came over to welcome me to the town… His sister, Alice introduced herself, and I met Alice's boyfriend, Jasper, and Edward's brother, Emmett, and his girlfriend, Rosalie."

"They all live under the same roof, too. They're a very nice, trusting family. And handsome, at that. Good looks must run in their family… even though they're adopted." She laughed. "Dr. Carlisle is practically a genius. He's saved many, many lives… The entire family is very kind, but they're often out of town and you really don't see much of them. The kids are just as smart as he is. I'm glad you managed to move in and place yourself in a good group of kids."

_What's that supposed to mean?_ I thought.

"Scottie…your father called my cell day before yesterday."

I remained silent.

"…He's very upset… He asked how you were doing…"

"I'm fine." I said sternly.

"Yes, I told him that… At least, I did because I thought you were."

"You thought right."

"…Maybe you should give him a call-"

"No."

"Scottie, I think it would be a good idea. He'd love to hear from you."

"If Reilly wants to hear from me so badly, why doesn't he just call? The phone works both ways."

(Reilly Evans was my dad's name.)

"Well, he's been too upset to call. He said every time he gets up the courage to try and call, he just hangs up again because he thinks you won't speak to him."

"Well, he's right. I don't care to speak to him at the moment."

"Because he sent you here? Is that why you're so angry?" She sounded hurt. I realized how true that was.

"Yes, but…It's not you, mom." I forced myself to call her mom. Whenever I was mad with my parents, I called them by their name. But I had almost always called my mom Vivian, no matter how I felt towards her. Maybe it was because she divorced my father when I was very young, and she became too engrossed in her work to take the time off to allow me to visit. Therefore, I was confined to Denver, with Reilly. I always thought it was because she didn't love or want me. Reilly tried to make me understand that it wasn't that she didn't WANT to see me, it was that she COULDN'T. Finally, we got to where we wouldn't talk about her, because I would break down into a crying fit. We took all of her pictures down, and packed them up. We hadn't spoken of her until he told me I was to go and live with her in Forks.

"Then, what is it, Scottie? What's so bad about coming to live here with me? You never seemed to understand that I didn't just abandon you. Things just didn't work out between your father and I. I couldn't take the time off to let you come and visit; I was working 24/7. I couldn't call, because I felt just as your father does now; I didn't have the heart to. I was afraid it would hurt you. And you seem to have developed a grudge against me. I just – I don't understand..."

"Look, it's true I sort of developed a grudge against you, but it was because I was little and didn't understand. I didn't want to come because I guess the thought that you didn't love me anymore sank in while I was little, and it stuck there. But I also didn't want to come because Reilly was being too unreasonable."

"Unreasonable? Scottie, you were sneaking out at night without your father even knowing! He came home in the middle of the night and you were gone! And then suddenly, your physical appearance changed, and you had an attitude. He didn't know what to do."

"I might as well have started my entire life over, all because of a simple change!" I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with her.

"Simple?! Scottie, look at you!"

"What? So he doesn't like me because I changed physically?"  
"Honey, you don't understand-"

"No, _Vivian_, YOU don't understand. You and Reilly are just the same; you have no respect for my personal feelings. What matters to you is how YOU want me to be and look. And I can't even explain myself to you OR Reilly, because you wouldn't understand. You probably wouldn't even give me the chance to explain it and get you proof or ANYTHING!" I screamed.

_Oh my God. What am I saying? Shut your mouth. _ I told myself.

"What are you talking about, Scottie?"

"Nothing. You wouldn't understand." I started to walk to my room.

"Try me! Just give it a chance, and maybe things would work!"

"**Maybe** isn't good enough."

There was a loud crash as the front door fell in. To my horror and disbelief, Malikai stood in the gaping hole where the door had been. I found myself frozen.

_Oh God…Edward, where are you…?_

Vivian came around the corner and looked at Malikai.

"Honey, I'm home." He laughed sadistically.

"Scottie, RUN!"

Before I could even think of what to do, I took off running up the stairs. I slammed into my door as I fumbled with the handle. I finally made it in, and then shut it behind me, a vain attempt to keep Malikai out. I listened as pans and pots were hurled around downstairs, and Malikai laughed.

_This is where I need to mask my scent…_

I ran and slid under my bed, and concentrated on the fresh, clean scent of the cast iron and fabric. I breathed in, then out…

In, and out…

In, and out…

I felt as though the bed was being turned to a gaseous state, and I was sucking it in as easily as I could oxygen. I closed my eyes and listened as Vivian ran into my room, and the door was busted off of the hinges. I closed my eyes tighter, concentrating on the bed.

In, and out…

The bed creaked as Vivian was pushed on it.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know!" Vivian sobbed.

"Shh…shh… Now, answer me truthfully… Where is that dear, lovely Scottie of yours, Miss Vivian?"

"I swear I don't know!" She was squalling.

"Are you sure?"

"She – she left the house. Out the window in my office – the next room – down the hall – she – "

"Tsk, tsk… Now you're lying to me sweetie."

"No, I – I don't –"

"Well, since you don't know where she is… I have no use for you…"

In, and out…

In, and out…

"No, please – my daughter – she's my only daughter – I love her –"

There was a loud crunch and a slight splattering noise as she was silenced. A couple of minutes later, I could hear his footsteps as he left the room. My scent began to re-emerge as Vivian's blood dripped through the bottom of the mattress and onto my face, mixing with my bitter tears.

_**Senses Fail – The Priest and the Matador: "Here I lie, staring at clouds in shapes of dogs and cats. I hear a woman start to yell. Oh dear God, I think he fell. I'm the arrow shot straight to hell from the bow of William Tell. My body lies kissing the ground like a cross turned upside down. A priest is rushing to my side. He begins to read me my last rights. Father, you're too late, my faith is weak. So won't you save your half-hearted speech? A man bends down and says 'Son, we're gonna get through this one. Take my hand and let us pray.' I scream 'Please get the f away!' The ambulance is singing as cops push back the crowd. I start to take my last breath as blood pours out my mouth. The medic's walking my way. I think this could be it. I hear him start to state 'The time of death is half past 6.'"**_


	16. Chapter 16

No more Vivian. Is anyone angry with me for killing her off? Sorry… Guess you'll just have to deal with it. LOL! J/K! Please don't hurt me…

Anyway… So yah… Malikai is a bad boy… I know what he's getting for Christmas (as long as he hasn't already killed Santa Claus). 

Edward wasn't there to help Scottie, nor was Raab. So… what happens now…?

Short Chapter due to extreme loss of weight from not eating in 2 days because I'm trying to type as much as possible. I have GOT to go and eat something. 

_**Senses Fail – Still Searching: "…I've got something to say about the last 12 months I've lived. I'm not the same kid I was when I was younger. I just thought you should know, I take a pill everyday to help me deal with life… I've got something to say about the family that I've lost. I hope my mother and my father think that they raised a healthy boy; who needs the help of a shrink to even leave the house. Don't ask just follow. Repeat and swallow. Don't ask just swallow them down your throat. Don't ask just swallow. Repeat and follow. Don't ask just swallow them down your throat. My best friend is a man with a lab coat and a grin. I hold my shaking hand and he gives me medicine. It almost makes me feel at home, but they slowly steal my soul. Tell him I still feel alone. 'Don't worry someday I promise you will feel whole.' Oh my God I've lost control of the only thing in life I had a hold of."**_

_Chapter Sixteen—Reilly Evans_

I spent the next 24 hours in a hospital. The doctors didn't think that I was listening or understanding what they were saying… what was happening… I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV stuck in my wrist. The highest level of Morphine was being pumped into my veins. Of course, it wasn't doing anything; I was just dazed from the latest event. Doctors were discussing my state, saying I was in a state of trauma and confusion. They said it was serious, because I had an extremely high temperature; however, a blood sample wasn't needed, because I hadn't been injured physically. The same thoughts ran through my head over and over again.

Where was Edward?

Where was Raab?

Blood was smeared all over my face, hair, and hospital gown. I couldn't quite grasp what was happening. Then, something hit me.

I jerked the IV out of my arm and reached across my bed to the phone hanging on the wall. I looked at the sticker on the back and frantically dialed 9, and then his number. I let it ring.

No answer.

I dialed it again…

No answer.

A doctor and two nurses entered my room.

"Whoa, what are you doing, miss?" The doctor tried to take the phone away from me, but I jerked away from him.

"I'm trying to call my father!!"

"Your father? You have a father?"

I stared at him as I dialed the number a third time.

"**Of course I have a father**! How the hell did you make it to be a doctor?!"

No answer.

I dialed it again as a nurse turned the TV up.

"…found dead in her home. Her daughter is currently in a hospital, in intensive care. Also, a man in his early forties, Reilly Evans, was also found dead in his home in Denver, Colorado, just moments ago…"

I dropped the phone.

"Wha-… _What…?"_

"**Turn that damn television off!!**" Someone stormed into my room.

The nurse fumbled with the remote and turned it off.

I felt my tears welling up as Edward put his arms around me.

"Scottie? Scottie, it's me. It's Edward. Can you understand me? _**DAD!**_" He screamed. Carlisle entered the room, flanked by Alice.

"Look, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room, sir." The doctor said to Edward.

"Get away from me." He snapped.

"_Edward_." Carlisle said sternly. "It's okay, I'm a doctor; From Forks.

"Move!" Alice spat to a nurse, who was blocking Carlisle's way.

"Could I see some ID?" The doctor asked

"Can I see YOUR ID?" Carlisle rebutted.

"I can't allow you to just-"

"Then my answer is no, as well." He turned to Edward. "Take her to the car." He turned back to the doctor, and handed him a sheet of paper. "I'm Carlisle Cullen, and these are my assistants, Alice and Edward. I've been sent to retrieve Scottie Starr Evans and transport her to the ER in Forks, her hometown. If you have any questions or objections, the answers are all here. Thank you, have a wonderful evening."

Edward scooped me into his arms as Alice untangled me from the IV. She led the way out of the hospital, with Carlisle behind us.

_**Senses Fail – Lost and Found: "This island has become and ocean and my boat's too small. The waves are crashing in, and I can't save this sinking ship. I sent out signal flares, but no one out there seems to care. Now the voice inside my head is the only thing that I have left. This is the part where I'll admit I'm getting what I deserve."**_


	17. Chapter 17

OMIGOSH! BOTH REILLY AND VIVIAN ARE _**DEAD!!!**_

What ever will she do??

_**Senses Fail – All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues: "I'm betting dreams upon my paper wings because flying isn't just for kings. I take the stairs to the very top floor. I paid the super to leave open the door. A perfect sunset is sinking in the sky. I know my body is ready to fly. I start the countdown backwards from ten. When I reach one, my family name will end."**_

_Chapter Seventeen—Vengeance_

I woke up on the black leather couch, curled up against Edward. Alice was lying on the floor below us. Emmett was sitting in a swiveling chair pulled up next to the couch, and Jasper was sitting on the floor, leaned up against the couch. Rosalie was even in the room, sitting on the other side. Carlisle and Esme must've been downstairs; they were the only two not in the room.

I sat up, and everyone turned their eyes to me. Edward's arms suddenly clung around my shoulders as everyone stood up. Alice sat next to me, and Emmett sat on the other side. Jasper stood, and Rosalie approached the couch, as well. I simply sat there, not looking at any of them.

"Scottie…?" Edward whispered.

I did not answer.

"Scottie, please say you can understand me…"

"…you can understand me…" I echoed.

They all smiled and Alice and Emmett hugged me tightly, to the point I thought my bones may shatter.

"Scottie, I tried – we all tried to make it – please believe us. We were seconds too late. Malikai, he – he got away. I promise we'll get him… I promise we'll make him pay… We'll slaughter him. I promise-"

"Edward…Not now, please…" I closed my eyes and swallowed hard.

He took a deep breath and stood up, then left the room.

"Are you hungry?" Alice offered. "We can get you something." She stood, and then left the room.

"It may make you feel better." Emmett stood up, too, and left the room.

Jasper took my feet and turned them back onto the couch, stuffing a pillow under my head, being careful not to breathe in the scent of the sticky blood in my hair and on my face. Then, he, too, left the room. Rosalie said nothing at first, and then she pulled the swiveling chair directly across from me and sat down.

"Scottie, I'm so sorry for your loss. It is a terrible one indeed."

I couldn't make anything come out.

"If… You need anything… We might as well be your family now…"

I nodded my head and rolled over on the couch. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, no matter what it was about.

I thought to myself about how stupid I was. I never had the chance to explain to my mother or father the truth. They would never know or understand why I changed, why I acted the way I did, or said those things that were both hurtful and made no sense to them. I wanted them to know. I wanted them to understand. They loved me and wanted only the best for me, and I denied them the truth. But I couldn't have said anything; it was a way of protecting them. The last things I said to either of them were jumbled, confusing, and hurtful. My mother and I had been arguing just minutes – even seconds – before she died. My father had been crying, wanting me to except him again, just before he died. What kind of a person was I?

_You're a monster. A wretch! You should die alone, like you so righteously deserve! What have you done?!_ The voice in the back of my head rang out. I wanted to kill myself. But then I thought about what my parents would want me to do... They would want me to live on happily, as though they were still with me. They would want me to grow and prosper, without regret or denial. And so I would; I at least owed them **that**.

I heard yelling and screaming downstairs. Edward's voice boomed over everyone else's, yet I couldn't focus enough to understand what they were saying. I rolled over, noticing Rosalie was gone (undoubtedly downstairs). I heard a door slam, and everything got quiet.

Alice appeared in the doorway.

"Scottie?"

I looked up at her with lifeless eyes.

"Scottie, Edward is furious." She said.

I wanted to know why, but couldn't make myself ask. It was all I could do to shift my weight and change positions on the couch.

"He's… he's going after Malikai."

I bolted upright.

"What?" I forced the words through, almost choking.

"He just came downstairs, and I was helping Emmett try and find you something to eat, and then Jasper came and sat at the table, talking to Carlisle and Esme. They were asking how you were, and he was filling them in and then, suddenly Edward came storming into the kitchen, saying that he was leaving. Jasper tried to tell him that he couldn't just leave you here with the way you're feeling, but it was like he exploded. He was just so mad, and Rosalie told him he was jumping into everything too soon. But we couldn't stop him. Now he's going after Malikai for revenge."

I stood up and ran for the stairs.

_Not him, too…_ I thought. _ I can't lose him, too…_

"Scottie, NO!" She yelled, dashing after me. "EMMETT!! JASPER! **SOMEONE STOP HER!!**"

I jumped at the last few stairs, but Jasper caught me in mid-air.

"You can't go after him!"

"Let me go! PLEASE, JASPER!" I wailed.

"No, Scottie!"

I struggled to get away from him, but his grasp was too powerful.

"I won't lose him, too!! I WON'T! **LET ME GO!**" I screamed.

Esme tried to calm me as Emmett assisted Jasper in securing me. I wasn't quite as strong as either of them, but I was no weakling.

"Let me go before my anger rises!" I felt my temperature trying to rise, and my voice was sharp, like a growl.

"Shhh, Scottie! You can't go after him now." Esme said. "He'll be fine."

"No!" I kicked and struggled. Getting away from the two of them was useless. I gave up when they had me on the floor, Jasper pinning me with my arms above my head and Emmett holding my legs. Esme was leaning over me as she sat on the floor, whispering to me that he would be fine. I had only one last idea.

_Edward! Edward I know you can hear me! Please come back! __**Please! **__If I lose you too, I don't know what I'll do! I'm scared, Edward. Please, please don't go. I'm begging you. I'll kill myself if something happens to you! Please come back! Edward! __**EDWARD!!**_


	18. Chapter 18

So, here we go. Things start to get a bit more interesting. Now, we will have people betraying, lying, backstabbing, attacking, killing, crying, double-crossing, and Jesus knows what else! There's going to be 3 more deaths. Can anyone name them? You get bonus points for naming them in order and/or who kills them. (Not really bonus points, but you know. I have friends reading this before I put it on FanFiction, and one of them actually guessed it right! Can you??)

_**Senses Fail – Everyday is a Struggle: "I love you so damn much, I'll even start to pray. I'll put my faith in all your BS if it means you'll stay. I love you so much I started praying. I love you so much that I started praying."**_

_Chapter Eighteen—Revealed_

I was eventually calmed to only a minor point of hysteria. Yes, I was still screaming, but I was beginning to become extremely hoarse, and it proved to be a very good thing for them; I was having trouble raising my voice. But still, I begged and pleaded with them. I couldn't lose Edward. If just a few days without him drove me crazy, what would the rest of my life be like?

Dead.

Definitely dead.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how _**dead**_ I'd be. If he were taken from me, I'd kill myself…

But not before getting my revenge on that dirty leech, Malikai. I'd put him six below, and then go back, dig his grave up, and dump him in a _hole_, TWELVE below. Why a hole? He doesn't deserve a grave. Why twelve below? Because it puts him six extra feet away from non-sadistic people who want to live their lives without being used as a chew toy.

"Scottie, Edward **will** come back!" Alice shouted back at me.

"But we can still go and help him! He can't do this alone! Alice, _please!_"

"I'm sorry, Scottie."

"NO!" I screamed. "He's your brother and you won't even go and save him! He's your family!" I shouted at them hoarsely. "HELP HIM!! At least let me go so _**I **_can help him! He needs _someone! ANYONE!_"

Alice finally yelled at me, "_**HE IS FINE! HE WON'T EVEN FIND MALIKAI!**_"

"How do you know that?!"

"Because I've **seen** it!"

"_What are you talking about?_" I was furious…still.

"I can see things in the immediate future. Edward gets cooled off and comes home in a couple of hours, because he can't find Malikai."

I hesitated before asking, "You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive."

I calmed myself, and began taking in deep breaths. If she was correct, then there was no reason for me to be worried. I kept telling myself that he'd be back soon, and in one piece. They sent me back upstairs to lie on the couch and get some rest. I agreed, and sulked as I dragged my exhausted body up the stairs. I reluctantly sat on the couch, anxious for Edward's return.

The more I thought about it, the stupider it seemed. Alice had said that she could see into the _immediate_ future, not the _definite _future. That meant that her prediction could be wrong. What if Malikai decided to go after Edward? What if he took Edward by surprise and killed him? I attempted to flush the gruesome ideas from my head. I shut my eyes and leaned back, trying to rest. The harder I tried, the more viciously the ideas popped back into my mind.

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't just sit there while Edward wandered around alone, in the midst of a sadistic murderer. I stood and put my ear to the door, listening for Alice and the others. They all appeared to be in the same vicinity. They were having a conversation regarding me and Vivian's house. I decided I couldn't go downstairs; they'd definitely know what was up. I couldn't open the window; it had a screen over it, and it'd make too much noise. Then I remembered Alice's ability; she'd see it coming. She was probably watching the future me attempt to be stealthy while sneaking out of the house, then she'd smite me, and barricade me in some cement room with no exit but a door, of which they'd be guarding.

But I had to get out. I **had** to.

The question was _how?_

I paced around the bedroom, inspecting every little inch, attempting to discover an escape route.

The door behind me opened, and I spun around.

It was Alice.

"_Scottie…_" Her voice had a sharp, warning tone.

Had she seen something? Was I going to escape and she was there to press the '**SMITE!**' button on me? I looked around frantically.

So there _was_ a way for me to get out… but _where?_

"_**Scottie…**_" Alice's voice was edgy.

Then I thought, maybe she was there to tell me that she saw something else… Maybe that Edward was going to die at the merciless hands of Malikai. I began to shake again. She was obviously there to tell me that, and she wanted me to sit down before I tried to jump out the window or something.

Then…

_That's it. The window. _I thought.

And without another thought, I turned and ran, then leapt out the window.

"**SCOTTIE!!**" Alice leaned over the edge, but I was gone. I was running as fast as possible, shaking glass off of myself as I went. Small traces of blood dripped along behind me as I pursued Edward's trail. I wasn't sure if they'd come after me, or decide to assist me. All I knew was there was nothing that would stop me from finding Edward.

His sweet scent faded in places, and I would have to turn around and re-track it. There were places where he had spun in circles, places where he turned around, and places that he stopped. I had even come to one place where his scent completely disappeared, but I found it again; I guessed he had jumped a long distance then continued.

As I ran, I felt my body becoming intoxicated, in a matter of speaking; His scent was growing stronger. I pushed myself to continue, feeling both scared and anxious. Almost as soon as my journey began, it had ended.

Edward was standing less than 20 feet away from me, and in front of him, was Raab Hurley.

"Edward?" I called.

His head turned slightly back toward me, not taking his eyes off of Raab.

"Scottie, go home." He growled harshly.

"No, Edward. I've come all this way to find you, and I'm not leaving unless you are with me. No exceptions."

"Scottie, _go home_." He repeated.

I ignored him.

"Raab…Raab, what are you doing here?"

He did not answer me, but instead turned his gaze away from me guiltily. I didn't understand what was going on.

Surely Raab hadn't…

No…

Not Reilly…

And definitely not Vivian; I had seen Malikai, **not** Raab.

Then, almost as if on cue, Malikai appeared through the brush.

"So, we all meet…This almost exactly like your wolf birthday, Scottie! How exciting!" He clapped his hands together and laughed. "And you've brought a friend, as well. Nice to meet you, Edward Cullen, son of Dr. Carlisle Cullen… Or so they say." A smirk spread across his face, causing Edward to growl again.

This time, even a growl escaped from my throat as I fingered my ring. Then I caught sight of Raab shaking his head. My hand slid away, remembering his warning that I could kill myself. But then it occurred to me that he appeared to be against me, so my hand slid back to my ring.

"Now that we're all here, we can get started." Malikai rubbed his hands together, something like you'd see in a cartoon…Only this was much worse than some animated villain. He said, "Raab. I've called you here with me for a proposition. And here it is… You are to kill Miss Scottie, here, seeing as you denied me of her blood months ago. If you do not, I will kill the Cullen boy." He flicked a lighter open. The light revealed something shiny below Edward. And then I realized it was gasoline. He continued, "You see, if you kill her, I throw the lighter into the woods, and that's the end of story. Then, he gets angry and attacks you for not killing him instead, ad your forced to kill him in self defense, then you get angry at me for bringing this upon you, and I kill you. If you pass on killing her, then Sir Edward here changes into crispy fried vampire, and I kill you, then Miss Scottie. The choice is yours, Raab Hurley… _**LET US BEGIN!**_" He threw his hands into the air.

"But…" My heart was pumping so much blood I thought I may spit it all up and then suffocate in it. I looked at Raab, then to Malikai. My eyes shifted at last to Edward. This was all a scam. It had to be.

"You can't kill Raab." I said at last, feeling as though I had beaten him at his own sick, cruel game.

"Oh, no?" He tossed something silver into the air, then caught it again. "I think you're wrong. You see, Mr. Hurley here decided he would shoot his smart little mouth off at me on day, a few years ago, just showing off to his girlfriend. So… I killed her, just to show her how funny I could be. In return, he came after me, and threw his ring at me, feeling all high and mighty. Then he transformed and attacked _my_ mate, killed her, then turned to me. He mauled me to pieces. Of course, he was an ignorant little beast… And thought he'd killed me. He saw no use for his silver. He figured he'd just remain hidden for the rest of his life, and he wouldn't have to worry about any other vampire picking up his ring and taking revenge. Of course, he only _thought_ I was dead. I managed to crawl to my mates' body, sobbing, then I took his ring and kept it nice and safe. I finally found him, a few months ago. You remember that day, Scottie." He grinned. "Maybe you were wondering why he didn't just take you and run… Well, I had his ring, as I told you, and thus, he really didn't have a choice… When a werewolf is killed, it is the most agonizing pain imaginable. Who wants to die like that? Not Raab. So he had to do as I said…Just like now." He looked at Raab.

_**Senses Fail – To All The Crowded Rooms: "I don't lie, I love you all. I do. To all of you dancing, just don't be afraid to fall. It's true."**_


	19. Chapter 19

And so, the secret is revealed. That's the reason why Raab has to do as Malikai commands. It's like he's forever bound to Malikai, for he possesses his ring, leaving him with no choice. What an evil little bastard.

As you'll find in this chapter, writing gruesome things is my forte. If you get queasy reading about explicit wounds, you may want to skip this chapter, give me an email, and I'll give you basics of what happened.

_**Senses Fail – To All The Crowded Rooms: "I'll give blood to your dry veins. We do this for the passion, and not the fashion or fame."**_

_Chapter Nineteen—Heart_

Sometimes you just get the feeling that you know you're screwed. And if you're lucky, you have an idea to get yourself **un**screwed. THAT'S how I felt. Edward could easily get in touch with Alice and have her bring the others to help us out. It would make seven against one… Unless Malikai forced Raab to fight against us. However, I think he'd rather kill himself. And surely Alice could see that we're about to be murdered. So, why wasn't she coming?

I looked over at Edward, who appeared to be concentrating angrily.

_Edward?_

He looked at me. I felt like his eyes were going to burn a hole through my skull. It was obvious that he was furious.

_Where is Alice?_

He slightly shook his head.

I was confused. If she could help us, why wasn't she coming? Or had the family turned against him because of me, and this was all just a set-up?

_**Why?!**_

He tossed a glance in Malikai's direction, and heaved his chest a little.

Then I remembered that Malikai could hear us, and I thought that maybe Edward was just trying to throw him off. Or, maybe she really wasn't coming. My primary concern was Raab and the lighter that Malikai was holding. I began to formulate plans in my head without making it obvious. If I didn't think it _specifically,_ he wouldn't understand or pick up on it.

"Well, Raab, we don't have all night; we have some chaos to create! And I also have plans of my own when we're through here…" Malikai smiled, tossing Raab's ring into the air.

If I could get that ring, Raab would be free from Malikai, and he could easily take him down…

"Make your choice." Malikai pressed.

Raab looked at me, clearly hurt and distressed. Then he looked at Edward, watching him hard. He held his hand out for the lighter.

Malikai laughed and handed it to him.

"I knew it! You never did like vampires… Of course you'd pick him." He shook his head. "And _you..._" He looked at Edward. "You move, and sweet little Miss Scottie dies oh-so-slowly."

Raab flicked the lighter open and gave Edward the same look.

_No…no, Raab… Don't… Look at me! LOOK! Pick me, Raab! Please don't… Not him… I can't…_

I began to panic, not knowing what to do next. I pleaded in my own head, hoping that Raab would not put the lighter to the gasoline.

To my dismay, he advanced toward Edward, who stomped the ground and growled at him.

"I'm sorry…But I'm afraid this is the best choice… Think about it… Do you really want to watch her die?" His voice was strong. "Do you know what it's like for a werewolf to die?"

Edward softened slowly, understanding.

_Raab! DON'T!! _ I felt tears welling up.

Malikai watched me, snickering.

Edward took in a deep breath and blew it out as Raab backed up, toward me, away from the gasoline. I could have easily reached out and taken the lighter, crushing it, and thus saving Edward... But I couldn't make my body move. I thought I had even stopped breathing. Raab took in a deep breath, and tossed the lighter to Edward's right foot.

I screamed out, jumping toward him, but Raab caught me, holding me back. The gasoline exploded, and before I could catch another sight of Edward, he was gone. I looked around, but he wasn't there.

"You son of a b –" Malikai looked into the air.

I looked up, too, and to my surprise, spotted Edward. He had jumped at just the last minute.

"I warned you!" He roared, then started to come toward me, but the gasoline snaked up a small stream and caught his legs on fire. He let out the most horrible shrieking noise. It was high pitched, causing Raab and I to cover our ears. Edward landed on Malikai, knocking him to the ground. The ring fell out of Malikai's hand, as Edward pinned him and began to beat him mercilessly.

"EDWARD! Get away from the fire!" Raab yelled.

The fire was making it's was up Malikai's legs, toward Edward. He jumped up and grabbed the ring, then ran toward us. Raab grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind him. We began to make our way back to Edward's house, but I was suddenly knocked to the ground, snatched from Raab's grip.

I kicked at whatever was on top of me, clawing at my throat. I finally got the chance to open my eyes, and realized that my attacker was Malikai. He hit me hard in the face, then grabbed me by the throat and dug his nails into the skin slowly, holding my hands above my head with the other hand. I heard Edward and Raab running back toward us.

"GET BACK UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO KILL HER NOW!!" He screamed. "**Watch here, Edward Cullen, as your precious girlfriend suffers!**"

Then I remembered my ring; it was still in my hand. I had to get it away from me, unless I wanted to die. I couldn't protect it against Malikai. He was much stronger than I was, but I still had a chance – even though it wasn't a very good one. I managed to pull my knees up in between us, and push him up. He accidentally let go of my hands and I punched him square in the nose, hearing it crack. Then I shoved him off of me and jerked my ring off. I started to throw it to Edward, who was standing next to Raab, the two of the frozen with horror. But before I could throw it, Malikai reached for it. I jerked away from him and turned on my side, but he stood and kicked me in the ribs with enough force to knock me about ten feet away. I landed on my stomach, and he ran over and pressed his knee on my spine, gradually putting more pressure down. I felt my temperature rising, and I could feel not only the pressure from his knee, but also from the inside. My insides felt as though they were being tossed around.

"SCOTTIE!!" Raab roared. "Put it back on and FIGHT! DON'T CHANGE! **NOT YET!! IT'S NOT SAFE!!!**"

But I couldn't put it back on, so I did the only other thing I could think of:

I swallowed it.

Malikai laughed, "You, _bitch._" He turned me over and pinned my wrists under his knees. "Do you think that's going to save you?!"

"No, but it just saved you, you bastard!"

"Oh really?" He laughed. "HOW SO?"

"Because I would have mauled you to pieced thousands of times worse than Raab did to your pathetic girl friend." I spat in his face.

His face turned hard.

"Oops. Did I press a button?"

He began to shake, clearly becoming angrier.

"I wonder, did she scream as loudly as you did before?"

He roared and then impaled me through the stomach.

I spat up my dark metallic crimson blood, and noticed Edward cringe and ball up his fists, cursing under his breath.

I spat my blood in Malikai's face and then he began raking through my insides with his claws. The pain couldn't have been as bad as it would have been had I still been human, but it definitely hurt worse than even the time my ears were upgraded. I screamed, tossing my head back, my anguished cries joining with Edward's. Malikai was suddenly thrown off of me, and I looked down at my stomach. It had been ripped open, and my blood was spilt everywhere. My hands were shaking as I gently touched the edge of the hole. Everything had been ripped to shreds and was spilling from the hole. I tossed my head back and screamed again, the pain coming in pulses. Malikai was suddenly pinning me again, and Edward was patting fire from his arm.

"That's the biggest mistake you'll ever make, Evans." He clawed down my chest, ripping through the center of my rib cage. He plunged his hand inside and found my heart, then ripped at it, as he did my stomach.

Edward knocked him off of me and hit him in the face. Raab ran over to him and pulled him to his feet, allowing Edward to sock him again.

I began to choke, and the pulsing pain in my stomach slowed. I looked down at the hole in my stomach, noticing it was slowly getting smaller. The rip down my chest was growing back together as well. I only wished it would heal faster. I laid there feeling like I was dying. I had no choice but to wait on the wounds to heal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw as Malikai was tossed out into the woods behind me. Edward ran over and picked me up, as I heard this gruesome ripping and shattering noise. It reminded me of what would happen if you put a body in a trash compactor. I looked over Edward's shoulder to see Raab's body contorting into a huge beast. His bones could be seen shifting under his skin. His vertebrae were snapping, his muscles were stretching, and his skull was breaking and re-mending itself. As the transformation came to an end, Raab appeared to be a massive wolf standing on its hind legs. He was maybe six feet and ten inches, with dark brown fur with a black undercoat, which got thicker on the mane, making it look as though the brown faded up to black around his neck. He had light blue eyes and long clawed fingers. He growled, exposing long sharp teeth. He was slightly hunched over, and panting. Then, he spoke to us, without opening his mouth to do so.

_"Keep her safe, Edward. I trust you with her… __**and my ring.**__"_

He ran into the woods where he'd tossed Malikai.HeH

_**Linkin Park – Hit The Floor: "One minute you're on top, the next you're not. Watch it drop. Making your heart stop just before you hit the floor. One minute you're on top, the next you're not. Missed your shot. Making your heart stop. You think you won, then it's all gone."**_


	20. Chapter 20

Things are beginning to heat up now, huh? I think they are… Of course, **I** would know, because I'm the author. Duh. Omigosh. Uh, I know it's taken a long time for me to get the chapters up, and I put a lot of them up at once. Here's why:

I don't have enough time to load them all to the website cause I have dial-up, so I use my laptop (which doesn't have internet access) to write the chapters, and I save them to my TravelDrive (it's a 1GB memory stick made by Memorex), then I take the TravelDrive to my computer and load the files onto the website. So, maybe you're wondering why I don't just write them and save them to the computer? Because I write best in the middle of the night, so I hide my laptop under my pillow, tell my parents I'm going to bed, then I go in my room and close the door, pull out the laptop and start typing. They don't bother me once I go to bed, so I'm 100 safe.

So yeah… Here we go.

_**Linkin Park – Don't Stay: "Don't stay. Forget our memories, forget our possibilities; what you were changing me into. Just give me myself back and don't stay. Forget our memories, forget our possibilities. Take all your faithlessness with you. Just give me myself back and don't stay."**_

_Chapter Twenty—Laying Low_

I must've fallen asleep somewhere between the war zone and Edward's house, because the next thing I knew, I had awoken (once again) on the black leather couch. I knew that thing all-too-well. However, this time, Edward was not lying next to me. I was on my back, staring at the ceiling, trying to grasp the most recent events, when I suddenly looked down at my chest. To my irritation, my shirt was ripped down the center, and the only thing holding it on was the arms. Thank God for creating whoever had the bright idea to make a bra. I sighed and rolled my eyes, pulling my shirt open just a little to look at my wounds. The hole in my stomach was closed, but sported an ugly scar that was gradually disappearing. My chest was a different story; the slice had begun at the place where my collar bones connected in the center, and went all the way down about two or three inches below my sternum. It was mostly closed up, but there were still places that could use some major healing. I started to pull my shirt (which was soaked in hot, sticky blood) back across my chest, when I looked back down at my stomach, noticing I had abs.

_Uhh…Awkward…_

I raised an eyebrow and then pulled my shirt around me, resisting the temptation to poke my stomach. Edward walked into the room right then, looking at me with a hurt expression.

"Scottie…" He walked slowly over to me. "Scottie, Malikai had your ring…"

I froze.

"He…he tore it…from your stomach…" He was clearly hurt by recalling the memory of seeing his best friend ripped to shreds by another vampire. "Raab, he went after Malikai. He said he'd come back with it, but…he hasn't returned…"

"He'll come back, Edward. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? Scottie, I just had to watch you be attacked, torn apart, by Malikai. He has your ring, and could easily kill you, and you're telling me not to worry about it?"

"Uh, yeah…Look, I promise Raab will come back. He always pulls through…I want to know…How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"When Raab was going to kill you…"

He sat on the couch, pulling my feet into his lap.

"He was never going to kill me. We were formulating in our minds. He's… a special werewolf… Whenever he's around, others cannot read his mind or anyone else's in the immediate vicinity, unless he allows it. So the two of us were formulating. He was pretending to proceed with killing me, and I stomped the ground, pretending to be playing defense. When I stomped, I splattered gasoline all over Malikai, and when I took in that deep breath and blew it back out, I was blowing the gasoline toward him, like a trail, pretending to sigh. So when Raab threw the lighter, I jumped up, and the fire traveled along the gasoline to Malikai, caught his feet, and I landed on him, taking him to the ground. I thought if I had enough time to beat him senseless, it's give him less time to get up, and he'd burn and die… But the fire would have caught up to me… So…"

"Oh…wow… but… why did he block our minds from Malikai then, but… not when he was going to turn me…?"

"When he explained this to me, he told me it was 'newly acquired'. Maybe that's why. Whatever it may be, the bottom line is, for the moment, we're safe, but we need to get your ring back."

"How long was I out?"

"Only when I started on the way back. I just put you on the couch about five minutes ago."

"Ah… Edward, why didn't you call Alice?"

"And get all of us killed? She wanted to come, but I made her stay."

"You don't think they could've helped us?"

"Well, yeah. No doubt. But, I didn't want to risk their safety…"

I understood how he felt. I sighed, then asked, "Now what do we do?"

"We wait."

"Are you serious? Shouldn't we be helping Raab?"

"Ha, NO."

I remembered that my shirt was shredded, and covered in blood.

"How'd you make it back?"

"What do you mean?"

"_Well, _I **am** soaked in blood…"

"It was very difficult…"

"And now?"

"Still."

"Hm."

"But I wasn't about to remove your shirt to replace it with a new one without your consent."

"**UH, THANKS.**"

"What? Surely you didn't want me taking off your shirt?"

"No, I mean thanks, LITERALLY."

He laughed, then shook his head.

"_**EDWARD! THERE IS A MASSIVE WEREWOLF AT THE DOOR!**_" Carlisle yelled, his voice sounding slightly aggravated.

Edward took off and ran down the stairs, pulling Raab's ring from his pocket as he went. A few moments later, I heard the cracking and shattering noises of Raab's bones as he changed shapes again. Within seconds there was arguing, and then Raab and Edward were in the room with me. Raab walked briskly over to me and slid the ring on my right middle finger.

"Good news and bad news." He said, his accent heavier than usual. I knew he couldn't have been American because of his accent, but it was such a light one, that I never really paid much attention to it. Now that he was angry and under a great amount of stress, it had become quite obvious. He continued, "I obtained your ring from Malikai, after managing to tear him into more than 60,000 pieces. The bad news, I failed to kill him, due to the lack of a source of fire."

Edward and I looked at each other.

"But to add more to the good news, it will take Malikai at least two months to even begin recovering. See, in wolf-form, we possess a type of venom that can slow a vampire's regenerating process, just like if a vampire bites a werewolf in it's seemingly human-form, it can slow down our regenerating process. So… you're safe for two months at the least. As for when those two months are up… it's up to you. I, however, will be in the vicinity, watching for him. But I warn you: I cannot protect you from **everything**."

"Indeed…" Edward said.

I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling exhausted. How mush worse could this day get? I remembered Vivian and Reilly…

"Scottie…"

I looked up at Edward.

"You can stay here tonight…I'll run to your house and get you some clean clothes." Edward held my eye contact for a moment, then turned.

"What about the police? And aren't they looking for me?"

He turned back to me and said, "There are rescue teams repairing your home, and Carlisle forged a letter from your great great aunt saying that she turns you over to us as your legal guardians, and the judge accepted it. So you live with us now. When the rescue teams are finished, you can go back home and live there, but you're legally with us. It's all been taken care of."

My great great aunt was my last living relative. She was crazy, and had some minor mental issues. She lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, with seven cats. I was glad I didn't have to leave.

Edward turned away to leave.

"Thank you, Edward…" I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. He turned back to me, then looked down at his feet. He looked back up at me and sort of smiled, then left.

"He is a kind boy, to be a soul-sucking leech." Raab said after he left the room. "Well, you should be excused from school tomorrow; I'm sure everyone in town knows of your tragic losses…"

"Raab, _please…_" That was not the subject I cared for.

"My apologies."

"It's fine…"

"I must be going, dear." Raab walked over and placed a hand on my head, and said, "I have some business to take care of now that all of this has occurred. I will be back to check on you soon."

"Goodbye, Raab."

He turned and left the room, leaving me there alone.

I suddenly had this strong dislike for being alone. It made me feel vulnerable…

_**Linkin Park – Papercut: "The sun goes down, I feel the light betray me."**_


	21. Chapter 21

Voila. Things get simpler from here, then much more complicated, then simple again. Uh, don't ask. Yah, so I just finished sketching this picture of me and my puppy… It's awesome. I have a Scottish Terrier, whose name is Maili Mae (Scottish spelling of Molly May). She's a 10 month old DOLL! I love her very much, and thus, Scottie was born as a character. Yeah, that's where I got the name for Scottie Evans. I also have a Welsh Terrier (6 months) named Maggie, and they were playing one day, and Maggie knocked Maili over unexpectedly, so Maili got her back by grabbing her by the collar and jerking her face into the cabinets. So, Maili got EVEN. I was emailing a friend, telling him about it, and instead of typing 'got EVEN', I typed 'got EVAN'. So, when I decided to write a story, my puppy and my type-o came to mind. Pretty cool huh? I think it is… And if you don't then oh well – YOU SUCK.

Hey guess what? I don't own Underoath, As I Lay Dying, or Atreyu. And if I did… I'd be freakin awesome.

_**Linkin Park – By Myself: "If I turn my back, I'm defenseless. But to go blindly seems senseless. If I hide my pride and let it all go on, they'll take from me till everything is gone. If I let them go, I'll be outdone. But if I try to catch them, I'll be outrun. If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer, then I'll be buried in the silence of the answer."**_

_Chapter Twenty-One—Tag_

Edward came back within minutes after Raab had left.

"It's difficult to get clothes for a girl…" He confessed. He managed to bring my sleep clothes and a few other things in a tight mesh black bag. He grabbed two pairs of jeans, my Underoath shirt, a dark red tank that had 'As I Lay Dying' on it, a pair of black shorts with Atreyu written on the leg (like my The Used shorts), and a black short cuffed sleeved button up shirt.

"Geez, went through the whole closet, didn't you?"

"No, I just grabbed the first six or seven things from your closet."

I shook my head as he set the bag next to the couch.

For the next day, I was at Edward's house. They were still "gone with Carlisle" and I had a week of excused absences for my "misfortunes". Nothing was aid on the Vivian/Reilly issue, but Malikai had become an almost everyday topic. Mostly, we were discussing that if he came after me, they'd fight him while Alice and Jasper got me out of the country. Rather than focusing on the bad, I interjected that if that should happen, I'd like to go to Belgium for the simple reason that they had VERY good chocolate. They all laughed.

When Friday rolled around, we were all back in school. Of course, everyone was asking me what happened, and all I could think was "What a bunch of idiots". See, when someone loses their entire family, it's definitely hard on them, and people don't have the common sense NOT to bring it up. The only person who had the most reasonable amount of sense was Jess. She nearly jumped some guy for asking me how Vivian died. I started to punch him in the face, but Jess pretty much beat me to it.

The end of that day steadily improved; I guessed everyone got the point. No one asked me about Vivian or Reilly, and no one mentioned them in front of me. I wasn't back to normal, however. I was still in a state of shock. No matter how much I thought about it, I didn't seem to understand that my parents were _dead_. Friday I went home with Edward, and he sat with me on the couch.

"Your house is finished. They replaced and repaired everything."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Do you wanna go over there and see it?"

"YES."

When we arrived, everything was just as though nothing had ever happened, except there was a faint smell of dust. I tentatively went upstairs to my bedroom to see that everything had been cleaned. There was no blood all over the bed or floor. Everything was just as it had always been. In fact, it was a completely new bed; it was actually bigger, and it had a black cast iron frame.

"Wow…this is…great." I smiled. "I'm glad **I** didn't have to clean it all…"

Edward laughed.

"I wonder if there's any food left here…"

He gave me a strange look.

"What? You don't even have to eat, so you wouldn't get it. Do you have any idea how hungry I get?"

"I can imagine."

"Alright then."

"Well… Scottie, I have to go away again."

"You changed the subject to tell me **that**? Thanks, my day just got better."

"Well…We didn't exactly finish what we went there for, so now Carlisle _has been called back_, if you know what I mean."

I nodded my head.

"Scottie, I'm sorry. I promise I'll be back soon."

We walked downstairs to the door and he hugged me around the waist. I knew what was bound to come:Malikai. Always when Edward wasn't around, something bad happened. I was afraid that maybe Raab had miscalculated how long it'd take for him to regenerate, or maybe it went by faster that he expected. All I could focus on was what might happen…

"You'll be fine, okay?" He assured me.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. Raab couldn't have made an error. I felt better, knowing this.

"Yeah, I know."

"It's just because of the sunny weather."

"Mm-hmm." I nodded my head.

"I'll see you soon." Then he left.

I stared at the door for a moment, then turned and looked around the house. Everything was so much different… I felt as though I was standing in the middle of a crime scene. I began to feel kind of queasy when the door opened again. I turned to see Edward in the door way.

"Come with me." He said.

At first I wasn't sure what he meant, then he repeated, "Come with me."

And so I did. Edward and his family took me with them to some place _way_ out in the middle of nowhere. Usually when you think "**middle of nowhere**", you imagine some deserted island that's not even on the map. But not this place… We ended somewhere way out in a forest, where a river wound through the trees. Edward told me that if we went far enough along the river, there was a rather large waterfall, and the river faded into a creek.

"Is this where you come when you…?"

"Yes…" He whispered, looking around.

The eight of us sat around and talked until after midnight. Finally, Carlisle and Esme stood.

"Well, Scottie, you'll have to forgive Esme and I, but it's about time the two of us head out… We're… rather hungry."

"Of course."

They left, delving deeper into the forest.

"Scottie, had you eaten before coming with us?" Alice asked.

"No, but I'm fine."

"Okay…I just thought I'd check, since you actually have to eat."

"Yeah. Thanks, Alice."

She smiled, then laid back on the tall grass.

"What time is it?" Jasper asked her.

"I don't know… two or three?"

"Three thirty." Emmett answered.

You'd figure there wasn't much to do around 3:30 in the morning in the middle of the woods. But actually, we talked for a long period of time, and at one point, Emmett decided he'd just push me over onto my side.

I sat back up and shook my head at him.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." I teased.

"Oh yeah?" He shoved me over again.

"_Yeah_." I stood up and backed away from him. He stood up, too, smirking.

"What? You wanna fight?" I teased him again. Edward leaned back on his elbows and smiled.

"Oh, this is gonna be funny…" He laughed. Rosalie yawned apathetically, and Jasper and Alice just sort of smiled and watched with interest.

"You're just a big stuffed teddy bear. I bet you're full of cotton." I poked him in the stomach. Of course, with skin _that _hard, there was no way he was a teddy bear stuffed with cotton. However, if he were a teddy bear stuffed with diamond-hard cement, that's a different story.

"Okay, right. I'm a teddy bear. And what are you?" He asked.

"Me? I'm a….a, uhh…" I wasn't sure.

"A rubber duck."

"_What?_"

"You heard me. Wimp."

"ME, a WIMP? Psh, _please. _I could take you and Edward at the same time." I crossed my arms. Before I could even get a response from Emmett, Edward ran and tackled me to the ground.

"You were saying?"

I grabbed his shoulders and pushed him up off of me, then tossed him away. I ran and jumped over him, then ran into Emmett, who clothes-lined me. I saw Edward running at me from the corner of my eye. I rolled backwards and onto my feet, then crouched and grabbed Emmett's foot and pulled him around in a circle, using him as a guard from Edward. Emmett stomped his foot down, taking me to the ground, then Edward grabbed my foot and dragged me around on the grass. I kicked my foot loose and then rolled back to my feet again. Edward started toward me, and I did a back-handspring away from him.

Wait…

I did a what?

"Uh…I didn't know I could do that." I said.

"It's a wolf-thing. You are a very agile, acrobatic creature, as you're finding." Edward said, still advancing. "Kind of like a _**cat**_."

I found myself growling at his remark. I figured that was natural wolf instinct, too. I took a step forward and crouched.

Edward stopped and smiled.

"Oh. You want to play _that_ game?"

I growled at him again, in a non-threatening way, my canine teeth exposed. Edward crouched, too, and Emmett came from behind me and stood to my side, also crouching. Before I could formulate a plan, they both jumped at me, and I ducked, allowing them to collide with each other. Then, they both fell to the ground, tangled. I laughed at them and then shook my head. Edward reached up and grabbed my foot, and jerked me to the ground with them.

"That was cheap." Emmett said. "You're lucky we didn't land on you."

"Ew." I teased.

"Hey, now…" Edward gave me a shove and I stuck my hand in his face.

"Emmett…" Rosalie called. "It's time."

"Right. I'll see you guys later." He stood up, allowing Edward to fall off of him and across my legs. I looked at Alice and Jasper.

"We'll wait till dawn." Jasper said.

"That's when everything is moving. They're probably not going to find anything but maybe a dear… Usually we go out early to see what the pickings are, and by then it's dawn, and we all separate and meet back here. Emmett and Edward like bear…" Alice said.

I looked down at Edward. He shrugged.

"I'm actually tired…" I said, lying back on the grass.

"Go to sleep, then…" Edward said. "I'll stay here."

"On my legs?"

He rolled off of me then stood up and stretched. He sat back down next to me and smiled. About five minutes later, I dozed off.

_**Mudvayne – IMN: "All work and no play makes me sick; I wanna eat a bullet, carve myself, beat my face, catatonic, dig my brain, no pain, suffocate, stomach aches, don't give a f, I'm out, I'm done, f this sh. You've dug the hole I'm lying in. No one, no one could ever understand."**_


	22. Chapter 22

Long live Fürer Bradley!

…

Uh, first off, I think that's spelled wrong. I can't remember; it's been so long. LOL! Yah, I like FullMetal Alchemist. It's pretty dang cool. No, I don't really like King Bradley. I LOVE Edward. I am SO much like him… I love ramen noodles w/ shrimp, I have blonde hair (I actually used to pull it back like his – without the braid - before I even knew the show existed), and I'm short. As a matter of fact, I'm 4'9''. O.o Pretty crazy huh? And my second favorite character is Riza Hawkeye. She uses a 45…I have excellent (almost perfect) aim w/ a 45.

ANYWAY. On to chapter 22, which will be incredibly short, due to lack of sleep and food. (I never knew I'd make it this far.) 

_**Mudvayne – Fall Into Sleep: "The angels are injured, fall with broken burning wings. Are we dead inside? Are we blind? We can't keep moving forward, backwards with closed eyes. We're losing sight, all lost inside. No more fallen, no more enemy."**_

_Chapter Twenty-Two—Diamonds and Auras_

"Scottie… Scottie, wake up…" Edward shook me gently.

I barely open my eyes and looked up at him, feeling groggy.

"I want you to come with me."

"Where's Alice?"

"She and Jasper left about ten minutes ago, and everyone else is still gone. Scottie, I want you to come and see something."

I stood up reluctantly, wishing he'd just let me sleep. What was so urgent for me to see that it couldn't wait until I had awoken?

He led me to the river, and we followed it to the waterfall. I looked up, seeing the morning light fade through the trees like a beam into the large water hole below. Indeed, it was beautiful.

"Oh, Edward…It's lovely… now let's go back to sleep." I started to sit, but he held my arm. I looked at him, and he backed toward the edge, removing his shirt. Before I could question him, he turned and dove in. I was convinced that I had never seen beauty until then.

The light appeared to reflect off of him, as though there were millions of tiny diamonds incrusted into his flawless skin. The entire pool of water was glowing. I walked cautiously to the edge, unsure of what to do.

"Edward…" I whispered, shocked.

"You're skin does something similar, but you have to learn to allow it to take over, and then mask it again. We vampires, however, can't mask ours, and werewolves have trouble allowing it to show. When you learn to unmask it, it shows your true strength, but it also leaves you vulnerable because it slows the regenerating process."

I looked up at the sun, and then back down to him. I took a deep breath and just sort of flushed everything out, like I was calming myself. I wasn't sure what I had to do, but I thought that'd be a good start. Then I felt as though some sort of chilled liquid was melted over me, and at first, I thought it was raining. I looked up at the light shining through the trees again, but there was no rain. I looked down at Edward again, who appeared to be waiting calmly. I finally decided, what the hell? And I dove in.

When I came up from under water, he was about three feet away, smiling.

"Scottie…!"

I looked around, and realized his light was dimmed. Then I noticed that my skin had a sort of black aura to it. I smiled. At least it worked.

"You genius." He gently splashed water at me.

"I know."

He grinned, then said, "Well, you're not **too **much o a genius, because you just jumped in, and you don't have any dry clothes."

"Oh…**Oh crap**..."

He laughed.

"Oh, yeah. You're definitely a genius." He said sarcastically.

We got out of the water, and sat on the bank for a while, just sort of talking about random things. Then he stood up and said, "I'll be right back."

He walked up the bank toward the top of the waterfall. I stood up and stretched, yawning. I was still tired, but did not regret Edward waking me. He came back moments later with his light blue button-up shirt, and handed it to me.

"Here, you're going to make yourself sick."

"What makes you think I get sick?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because you're running a fever." He touched my forehead.

"Ha. Right. **Okay**."

He turned around and crossed his arms while I changed into his shirt, which was too big; not something I didn't expect. I threw my wet shirt at him, and he turned around.

"I would throw it back, but that shirt is dry, and it would kind of defeat the purpose of me letting you wear it."

"You didn't have to let me wear it."

"Well, if you would have jumped in without your shirt on, you could still be wearing it. Or, we could have just switched."

I gave him a funny look, then said, "My shirt wouldn't fit you."

"It might. It'd just be a really tight fit. Then I could dye my hair black and everyone could call me emo."

I laughed and shook my head.

_**Mudvayne – Choices: "Leaders are guilty of nothing, they are perfectly insane. But if they'd point the finger at themselves, who would be left to blame? We don't have a choice anymore, anyway. We don't have a voice anymore, anyway. There's no choice in freedom, there's no voice in freedom."**_


	23. Chapter 23

Well, I came to a conclusion on how I'm going to end the story. The title will finally make the connection to the story, and there will be more bloody deaths to come. When I finish, I will probably start working on a Tales of Symphonia story… But it'll be a while before I finish this one. So… I'm working on this one REAL hard so I can get it finished before I turn 60. LOL!

_**Linkin Park – Reading My Eyes: "Reading my eyes will say it in many ways. Losing my pride will save it in many days."**_

_Chapter Twenty-Three—In Love and Death_

Seeing the effects of sunny weather on Edward was quite a treat, however it wasn't enough to sustain my desperate need of sleep.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm just really tired…" I explained.

"No, I understand."

I started walking back along the river, to where we were to begin with.

"I just had something to talk to you about."

"Well, talk." I continued walking.

"It's kind of important."

"I'm listening."

"Scottie."

"_Come on_." I hadn't planned on stopping; He was wasting my valuable sleeping time. Why was he being so difficult?

"Wait."

"Edward, I'm exhausted, and the longer I linger around, the more time I'm wasting that I could be sleeping." I whined. I was not someone who enjoyed being sleep deprived, and those who got in my way suffered greatly.

"Then allow me to make this quick and to the point."

I felt him grab my shoulder and spin me into him, then he kissed me.

The rest of that day was awkward. Everyone got lucky, and the weather turned snowy and cloudy again, so we went home early. Edward and I didn't say much to each other for the rest of the day. We weren't angry with each other, nor were we embarrassed, but I was shocked. I guessed he was just allowing me my personal space to think things over. They took me home and as I was walking to the door, they all shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

I turned and looked at them all. They smiled and waved, and I shook my head. It was the most pleasing birthday I'd had in years. I started to head for the door when Edward called me back. I turned and he walked up to me, then took my hand. He slid a small silver ring on my ring finger. I looked down at it. It had a black stone and the right side of it was lined with tiny green amethysts and white diamonds. I looked at him. He was smiling.

"Edward, that wasn't necessary-"

"Yes it was."

"No, I-"

"I'm coming to see you tomorrow. And I know it'll be Sunday, so I'll wait and give you time to sleep in."

He allowed me **plenty** of time to sleep in – he didn't arrive until around 1 in the afternoon. I had gotten up and put on a pair of jeans with my Converses and my black button-up shirt. I folded my sleeves up to three-quarter length and looked in the mirror. I was sitting on the couch, looking at the ring. I found an old dog-tag chain and I put the ring from Raab on it, then placed it around my neck. I never was one much for jewelry, but Raab's ring was a life necessity, and Edward's was… Well, it was…

What was it?

…

It was _special_. Yes, that's it. It was special to me. I hadn't removed it from my ring finger, but instead kept it where it had been placed. There was something about the shape of the band that kept it from irritating the two fingers on opposite sides of it.

So, I was sitting on the couch, looking at the ring, when I heard the door open. I got up off the couch and turned to the doorway. There he stood, in jeans and a rich crimson button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

"You copied me." He said, smiling.

"Ha, I think not."

"Oh really?"

"Indeed. My shirt is black, ¾ length sleeves that are folded, not rolled, and I'm wearing Converses."

"Okay, so it was dark and you couldn't quite see through the window enough to tell 100 what color the shirt was, and I don't lay my shoes out for the next morning."

I smiled and shook my head.

"Scottie, I came to talk to you…"

"I thought so…"

"About what you would not allow time for words to say, and thus, there were actions instead."

"I remember."

He walked toward me and took both of my hands.

"Scottie, I never believed what I heard in your thoughts. I always thought they were just mixed signals, or maybe I was…Well, I don't know, delusional."

I listened carefully.

"So, the more and more I thought about it myself, I realized that whether what I was hearing was fact or fiction… I was sure that I love you."

My ears rang and my body temperature jolted, then fell again. I looked at him, thinking about his words.

'_I was sure that I love you…I was sure that I love you…I was sure…I was sure…I was sure…I was sure…I was sure…I love you.'_

"No-" I gulped. "-mixed signals…"

He said nothing.

"Edward, I wasn't sure what I was thinking, and I wasn't sure that any of it made any sense. But the one thing that **did** make sense was that there was definitely _something_ that I was feeling, although at the time I wasn't sure what it was…I guess…I guess now I know-"

"How sweet."

I don't think anyone's life went from perfect to shit faster than mine just had. The two of us turned to see Malikai standing in the kitchen. He wasn't quite perfect. He was still recovering, obviously. Most of him was put back together, but there were still massive scars and he was missing a couple of toes and fingers. Half of his head held no hair, and if you looked close enough, you could tell that his skull had been crushed, for he was missing skin and the white bone was visible. Some of his teeth were chipped and missing, and his right arm looked as though it had been lacerated with a high-powered chainsaw.

_Raab said…Two months…_

"Guess what, _**sweetie? **_Raab was right, in terms of complete recovery. But as soon as I could walk and see, it was all downhill from there. And, here I am!" He held his arms wide open.

Edward growled, showing his fangs.

I followed suit, crouching. I would **not **let him control me. I would **not** let him defeat me. I remembered Raab telling me not to attempt changing until the Saturday of my birthday. It had gone and passed. But then, I remembered the pain of my arm being crushed and changed my mind.

"I see they remodeled your house." Malikai said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, so let's not screw it up again, shall we?"

He shrugged and said, "If you say so." He turned and walked outside.

Edward and I looked at each other.

"What a fag…" I followed him outside.

"Scottie, don't jump into this, there is something going on…"

I ignored him and kept walking.

"Scottie!" He called.

I went outside, and before I had time to look around, I felt Malikai's presence. He jumped at me from my left, and I ducked down low, letting him fly over my head. I growled and ran and jumped at him, hitting him in the face twice as we fell to the ground. My body temperature hit 106 as he grabbed my shoulders and slammed his forehead into mine. I snarled and snapped my teeth in his face then slammed my fist into his collar bone, snapping it. Before he could react, I jumped up and stomped on his sternum, shattering it. He grabbed my foot and twisted it, causing me to spin and fall flat on my face. Edward ran over and kicked him in the face, and he let go of my foot. I rolled over and watched as Edward and Malikai fought mercilessly. Then, a large dog-creature lunged out of the surrounding trees and landed on Malikai. It took me a moment to realize it, but I figured out that it was a werewolf – Raab, to be exact. His right hand was on fire, and he used it to grab Malikai by the throat. Malikai let out the horrible shriek again and I had to cover my ears for fear that the high pitched noise would liquefy my brain. Raab jumped backwards, off of Malikai and stood there. Malikai lurched into a fetal position, twitching convulsively. He suddenly kicked himself over and looked at Edward, who just watched him. Malikai hissed in a low tone, and within milliseconds, was on his feet again. He threw his flaming hand forward, into Edward's chest. I screamed, then jumped on Malikai, tearing him down to the ground. I beat him furiously, despite the flames licking at me. Raab pulled me off, then leaned down and grabbed Malikai's foot, and dragged him out into the woods.

I turned to Edward who was examining a large burn on his chest.

"That was a close call." He said.

"Close call? He almost killed you and all you can say is that it was a _close call_? You're retarded, and that attitude is going to get you killed."

"_My_ attitude? What about you? You're more reckless than I am."

"Well, I…That's not the point."

"You know why? Because there is no point."

"Except that you're alive."

"Well… I guess."

"Idiot." I shoved him and walked back inside.

He followed me back in and spun me towards him.

"I do believe you were saying something very important."

"Oh…" I remembered what we had been talking about.

"I said, I love you, Scottie."

"And I was going to say, before I was interrupted by some freaky sadistic faggot that was probably shunned by his parents as a child…I love you, too…"

The remainder of February passed.

And then March.

And April.

May…

June…

July…

August…

I spent the summer with Edward, and when he was gone on a trip (which rarely happened), I was with Jess. I told her that Edward and I were dating, and every time she had the chance, she was milking me for information.

We never saw Malikai after that day, but Raab came to us a week later, to tell us he was dead. He said he would be honest with us, that he wasn't 100 sure, but if he wasn't dead, he didn't know what to call it. Edward I considered it good news, and we celebrated with his family.

Speaking of Edward's family, they were not opposed to us being together, and Rosalie had even grown to like me. She ceased giving me evil glances, and was rather genuinely friendly.

When school started back, Edward and I were the senior couple to die for. Everyone became less snotty; it was almost as if they respected us. I was glad for it…It meant no more jerks pushing on me. Of course, where there's respect, there's disrespect. There were still a few girls that hated me… But it was because I had Edward and they didn't.

I never removed my ring from Edward. And as for the ring I got from Raab, I never removed it, either. As a result, I never attempted my transformation. It wasn't because I was chicken, or scared, but because I saw no use in it. Raab taught me only to change when threatened by a vampire. And the last time that'd happened, it was the day after my birthday. And my birthday was February 6th, which meant we had gone almost seven months without seeing Malikai, who was assumed dead.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end…

_**Hoobastank – Give it Back: (at the end of the song, there is a conversation…) "Uh, like, rap. Like, cheesy rap. Like, I once gave it back and now when it was taken from me, and then I got it back again! I want what once was MINE!!" (hysterical laughter follows)**_

_**It really isn't funny unless you hear it… SO GO LOOK IT UP!!!**_


	24. Chapter 24

And so the story draws to a close. This should be the last chapter, and if not, the next chapter should be. So… I'm apologizing in advance for what is going to happen. That is, if you actually like Scottie Evans…

_**Mudvayne – TV Radio: "You incomplete me, you turn me into whitewash, spoon-fed, brain-dead, sloth. I'd watch the paint dry before giving in. Blackout, stupor, inferior, insignificant. False stars above keep us sedated. Satellite, astronaut, spaceship, the government. I'm overdosing on reality. Don't stop the feed, no, don't touch the feed. I don't wanna be, wanna wanna be, I don't wanna be here, wanna wanna be here so let's go. Turn off the radio, turn off the TV."**_

_Chapter Twenty-Four—The Book_

In September, I got a letter in the mail from Raab. He was in northern Washington, and wanted me to come and visit him. I told Edward I'd probably be late getting home, but he was welcome to hang out at my house. I threw on a pair of jeans and a black collared shirt with tiny green pinstripes and left the house. When I arrived at what I thought was Raab's home, I checked the address on the envelope, just to double check. The house was slightly larger than my own, and it was an off-white color. I got out of the car, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so I turned the handle. It opened easy, and I went in. The parlor was dimly lit.

"Raab?" I called.

There was no answer. I noticed a dark folder on the coffee table. I walked over to it and flipped it open. It was an old picture album. Inside were pictures of a young boy who resembled Raab, only with blonde hair. I figured it was his family's, so I shut it and pushed it back on the coffee table. A small dark blue leather-bound book fell to the floor. I picked it up, noticing it was Raab's handwriting. I flipped through a few pages and stopped when I saw a picture of a ring. There was a small diagram of a silver ring being melted, and an arrow pointing from the ring to a medical needle, and another from the ring to a werewolf's heart. I skimmed further down to the writing:

"Across the years, I have discovered many things, but none as interesting as this. To get straight to the point, there are now 2 known ways to dispose of a werewolf. One, melt his piece of silver and inject it through his heart. The silver then infects the heart, and thus, spreads through the blood stream as an infection. And two, melt the silver and inject it into the bite-area when the werewolf's body is at its lowest temperature. Injecting it straight into the bloodstream will cause the silver to react with the wolf-blood in ways of terminating it as if it were a germ. After a few minutes, the wolf will become human again, and can then be killed as a mortal.

I am often tempted to turn myself back…But I have a duty, a responsibility, if you will, for being the first werewolf… someone must keep these secrets…"

I felt my heart pounding.

_No…No…It's impossible…The silver…The blood…Raab is…No…_

I wasn't sure what to think.

"Scottie, you're early."

I turned to him, holding the book. His smile faded.

"Scottie…Please, put that book down…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Was all I could say through choked words.

"Tell you what…?" He walked slowly toward me. I threw the book at him.

"_EVERYTHING!!_" I shouted. "You could have easily turned me back human after that night, and I could have gone back to living my normal life, with nothing but a nightmare and a dirty little secret!"

"I take it you have yet to read the remainder of the chapter?"

"I don't care about your stupid book! The information I got from it is all I care for!" I pushed past him and headed for the door.

"Scottie, being a werewolf is better than-"

"Better than what?!" I turned back to him angrily.

"Scottie, please."

"No, Raab. I'm sick of your lies. I always knew you were hiding something from me. And now I know."

"I'm warning you Scottie. I can't tell you what to do, and I can't control you. All I can do is try and explain. If you try to turn yourself, you could die."

"It's better than being _this_!"

"If you turn yourself at the wrong time, your plan could backfire, and it'll be just as bad as being killed as a werewolf. And if you succeed, vampires will be after you, and you could end up dead or one of them."

"Then I guess I'll have to be careful, won't I?"

"What about Edward?"

"He'll understand."

"You never would have met him, had I not turned you."

"Shut your mouth, you lying bastard."

"Fine. I will intervene no more."

"It's about time." I turned and left.

_**Three Doors Down – Duck and Run: "So you call this your free country? Then tell me why it costs so much to live."**_


	25. Chapter 25

Okay my mind is made up. Chapter 26 will be the last. I repeat: Chapter 26 **will be the last.** So here we go… Almost there…

_**Three Doors Down – Love Me When I'm Gone: "So hold me when I'm here, right me when I'm wrong, hold me when I'm scared, and love me when I'm gone. Everything I am, and everything in me, I wasn't being the one you wanted me to be. I'll never let you down, even if I could."**_

_Chapter Twenty-Five—Awaiting Winter_

When I made it home, Edward was not there. I went to Vivian's bathroom and looked through the drawers for a thermometer. I finally found one in the medicine cabinet, and stuck it in my mouth for five minutes. When I pulled it out, it read 104 degrees. I threw it back in the cabinet and stormed up to my room. I sat on my bed and thought about my options.

There was Alice's gift of seeing into the future. If she saw what I was going to do, and if they didn't like it, they'd try to stop me. I couldn't have that happening. And if Edward read my mind, he'd know. Then I had to think about how to lower my body temperature to its lowest point…

I finally realized that the only way I could get my temperature to fall drastically would be if it snowed. Unfortunately, it was September, and it was hot and humid. I decided to use my weekend wisely, and plan out my idea.

I grabbed my calendar and sat down at my computer. I booted it up and got online, and then searched for the climate of Forks. It usually snowed in late January or early February, and lasted through February. I sighed. Four to five months… What would I do in the meantime? Little did I know, time would fly by faster than I thought…

I never heard anything from Raab after that. I didn't care. It was his fault I was angry, and his fault for deciding not to speak to me. I wasn't going to go and apologize to him for saying what I said, especially after what I found out.

As for Edward, things couldn't have been better. We spent as much time as possible together. We had all of our classes together, and the weekends left us free to do as we pleased. One Friday in October, he came home with me after school, and sat with me in my room.

"Scottie," He said. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"Yes, silly boy…" I said, not looking at him. I was folding clothes.

"Do you?"

"_Do I?_ What kind of question is that?"

"A two word one with a question mark at the end."

I shook my head.

"I love you more than anything in the world, and I'd kill myself if I lost you."

I hesitated. Did he know of my intentions? Surely not. I continued folding.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I was afraid I'd sounded insensitive. "I mean, it was kind of random."

"I just thought I'd inform you."

I smiled, and continued folding.

"I love you, too, Edward."

"Do you?"

"Again with that question."

"Well, do you?"

"Yes, or I would not have said it."

He smiled.

I never knew until January how hard things were going to be… I kept thinking about February, which was approaching quickly. The more I thought about it, the more I regretted ever looking through that stupid book. But at the same time, I wanted to be human… I was sick of having to keep secrets and be careful…

I sat in my physics class in late January, constantly looking out the window, hoping for snow. I knew I could not deceive myself, for I could smell that there was not going to be snow anytime soon. But there was still hope…

And finally, February came. I thought of what a wonderful birthday it would be if it would just **SNOW!!** Unfortunately, the snow had not yet come. The first week of February, the weather just kept getting colder and colder, until finally, I woke up one Wednesday morning to see huge, fluffy clouds in the sky. I jerked my window open and leaned out, sniffing the crisp air. Those clouds were just waiting to burst, and I knew it. The school day was full of anticipation as I continued to look from the clock to the window, and back, over and over again. When I the final bell rang, it still had not snowed, much to my disappointment. I got in my car and left for home. I stopped and looked up at the sky. The clouds had grown more formidable throughout the day. I kicked at the ground in anger, wishing the snow would hurry up.

I went inside and kicked my shoes off, then plopped down on my bed. I yawned, realizing how tired I really was. I hadn't been getting much sleep; I was staying up extremely late, watching and hoping for (yes, you guessed it) snow. I dozed off, only to be awoken around 9:00 by Edward.

"Scottie, get up. _Scottie!_"

"_What?"_ I hissed.

"Scottie, I need you to get up, and come with me."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" There was something about his voice. It had a sharp tone to it.

I rose up and looked at him. He was breathing hard, and seemed angry.

"What's going on?"

"Don't ask questions, just get up."

"I don't know what's wrong with you but-"

"Scottie." Alice was here, too.

Then it hit me…

The snow. It'd come.

I jumped to my feet and looked out the window, and, sure enough, it was snowing quite hard. There must've been about three or four inches already on the ground. I put my hand to my chest and felt my ring, and Alice and Edward looked at each other. So they knew of my plans. But I couldn't over come them both…I'd have to find away to get away from them.

"Scottie, please come with us…" Alice said.

"Why are you here?" I asked them. "What's going on?"

"There are important matters at hand…" She answered.

I stood there. They wanted me to go to their house so I couldn't get away easily. I'd have to make my escape before I got home with them. I backed up, and before they could say another word, I jumped out the window and ran for the woods. I'd have to hurry if I wanted to make a clean get away; I could hear them coming after me already.

As I ran, I knew they'd find me unless I found a way to throw them off, so I turned and ran to my right, touching a tree here and there as I went. When I got far enough, I jumped up into a tree and continued jumping through them until I reached where I had turned off my trail. I started to jump down, then spotted them. I waited, then breathed in, and out steadily, masking my scent with the trees. I concentrated as Edward and Alice ran down the fake path. Once they were gone, I jumped out of the tree and ran full speed to the school. I stuck my ring in my mouth as I ran. I knew my body temperature would rise as I was active, causing the ring to begin to melt.

When I arrived in the parking lot, I ran to a door and busted it down. I made my way to the nurse's room and rummaged through her cabinets until I found a needle and a thermometer. Then I ran back outside to the parking lot. The far end had a ditch, and it was sure to be full of snow. I ran and jumped into it, the snow flying everywhere. I laid in it, scraping it on top of me as I took the needle and stuck the needle in my mouth, sucking the hot liquefied metal into the syringe. I put the thermometer in my mouth and held onto the needle with my other hand, keeping the metal a liquid. My body temperature dropped drastically as I piled more snow on my body.

101 degrees…

98 degrees…

95 degrees…

It stopped falling at 92 degrees, and I sat up and spat the thermometer out of my mouth, then took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and jammed the needle into my right wrist, and pushed the silver into my veins. I felt as though my whole body was becoming an icicle. My eyes, ears, and nose burned and my body ached. Then, I saw in my peripheral vision that my hair was its natural caramel blonde color, and it was becoming curly again. My grey in my nails faded and I gasped for air. I stood up, then nearly passed out at what I saw.

Malikai, who was fully recovered, was standing there, laughing.

"Human _again?_" He asked.

I took a deep breath and said, "I guess so."

"That's wonderful…Now…I can finished what I started." His teeth gleamed. He started walking toward me.

"Don't touch me, you bastard, or you'll be a simple pelt in Edward's house." I spat.

He laughed and said, "Edward? _Cullen?_ That pathetic vampire and his sister, Alice? You killed them an hour ago!"

"I…_what?"_

"That's right. You sent them to their death bed."

"I did not, I-"

"Remember Raab? Raab Hurley? Well, he carted me off into the woods months ago. Well, while I was there recovering, I established a coven with some vampires who just moved into those woods near your home. They helped me recover, see? Well, as you ran through those woods, I was watching. And you, you smart devil, led them right to my coven of five! And guess what? They didn't too much like your little friends." He smiled.

_No…no…no…no…no…no…_

"Oh, yes yes yes yes yes yes!"

"You're a liar. Prove it." My heart was pounding.

He pulled a scrap of cloth from his pocket. It was black with white polka dots… Just like Alice's shirt…

"I can bring you their bodies if you want."

I fell to my knees. Everything was backfiring.

"So, now there's no one to save you." He laughed.

I felt tears welling up as I pushed myself to my feet.

_I can't do this…I can't…not without Edward…Why…?_

"You…" I choked on my words.

Malikai smiled maliciously. I ran toward the school.

"Oh. You wanna play hide-and-go-seek? Okay…I'll count to fifty…" He laughed and began counting.

I ran in side and ran to my biology class.

_God, why? Why Edward…? And Alice…Why is this happening? I can't live like this…I can't…It's my fault…I…I…I killed them…My fault…_


	26. Chapter 26

The last chapter. Enjoy. Sorry for the delay.

Oh, and watch for my next story.

_**Linkin Park – Forgotten: "In the memory you'll find me, eyes burning up, The darkness holding me tightly, until the sun rises up."**_

_Chapter Twenty-Six—Present Day/Epilogue _

_And so now, I am standing here, in my biology class. I managed to find some rope that we used in a project back in November…Edward was my partner… Edward…_

_I stand on a chair and tie the rope to the emergency fire sprinklers, then tie the end in a noose and slip it over my head. I wish I weren't crying…It'd make things easier to concentrate on…_

_Life is worth nothing, anymore. Without Edward Cullen, I am a wreck. There is nothing left for me here…_

_And since it is my fault that he and Alice are dead, I must pay the price._

_I take a deep breath and kick the chair out from under me._

Scottie's neck broke the instant she left the chair. She should have died that very instant, but God had more in store for her.

The weak emergency sprinkler gave way, and she fell to the floor, inches from death. The fall cracked her skull and broke her leg, but she still was not dead. She managed to turn herself over and stare at the ceiling as she died.

Just before the Angels took her, Edward and Alice entered the room, with Malikai's blood on their hands.

Scottie lived her werewolf life for a year, and never once did she perform her transformation. No human discovered her secret. Raab used her in his teachings, and within five years, she was a werewolf legend.

She'd lost it all, and died in the name of love. But in the end, it didn't even matter, for she always lived on in Edward's heart. It was all she could have ever wanted, or needed.

Malikai had been lying all along. He did, however, count to fifty, and started toward the school, when Edward and Alice arrived. Furious, they tore him to shreds and took a lighter to him. There was no coven, and the piece of cloth was where Alice had ripped her shirt running through the woods.

Raab was sought out by Alice, who informed him of the incident. He grieved, and blamed himself for her death to a minor point. He left the country, and was never heard from again, although it was rumored that he assisted newly transformed werewolves in their beginning stages of their new life.

The Cullen/Hale family grieved over Scottie's death. They funded a staged funeral, but buried her at the top of the waterfall, where Edward first confessed his love for her by means of a kiss.

Edward left the country and went to Italy. He stayed there for the rest of his life, in a small flat, and never loved for anyone again. He went to visit her grave every weekend, but never returned to Forks.

_**Linkin Park – In The End: "I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter. I had to fall and lose it all, but in the end, it doesn't even matter."**_


End file.
